In the early 2000s, when GPS became standard in cars, something strange started happening. People drove straight past “Road Closed” signs, into lakes, or onto snowed-in mountain roads all because a calm digital voice told them to turn left. We jokingly called it “death by GPS.”
Fast forward to today, and we’re facing a quieter, more dangerous version of the same problem. As generative AI slips into our work, research, and creativity, many of us are becoming passengers in our own thinking.
From Steering Wheels to Thought Processes
Before GPS, you actually had to understand where you were going. You looked at maps, noticed landmarks, and built a mental picture of your surroundings. Once GPS arrived, that mental map disappeared. You stopped thinking about the journey and just followed the blue line.
AI is doing something similar to our brains.
When we ask AI to summarize something complex or write something for us, we skip the messy middle, the part where we wrestle with ideas and actually learn. We get the destination without ever understanding the terrain.
There’s also the illusion of certainty. Just like drivers trusted the satellite more than their own eyes, we start trusting AI over our instincts even when something feels slightly off.
Finally, there’s the convenience. Our brains are wired to conserve energy. If a machine gives us a “good enough” answer, it’s tempting to accept it instead of doing the harder work of thinking or checking.
When We Go Off-Road
With GPS, “off-road” meant a ditch. With AI, it means misinformation, bias, and the slow erosion of original thought.
When we stop questioning AI, a few things happen:
- Hallucinations become facts. AI doesn’t actually know anything; it predicts language. If it confidently gives you a fake court case or a wrong date and if you don’t check — you’ve just driving straight off that cliff.
- Thinking becomes recycled. AI is trained on existing data. If we rely on it too heavily, we stop creating and start remixing a bland, averaged version of reality.
- Our skills fade. If you never navigate without GPS, you’re lost when the battery dies. If you never think deeply without AI, you’re stuck when it’s unavailable or wrong.
Taking Back the Driver’s Seat
At BetaDefense, we believe technology should extend human capability, not replace it. To avoid “cognitive death by GPS,” we need to change how we use AI:
- Trust, but verify. Treat AI like a smart intern, not an oracle. Everything deserves a human sanity check.
- Build your own mental map first. Try forming an opinion or hypothesis before asking AI. That way, you can tell when something doesn’t add up.
- Embrace the friction. The struggle is finding the right words, solving the problem, working through confusion is where growth actually happens. Don’t outsource the hard part.
GPS was meant to help us explore the world, not forget how to navigate it. AI should be the wind in our sails but we should always keep our hands on the rudder.