AI can help us accomplish incredible things, but could relying on it too much weaken our ability to think?
Dr. Donald Bungum joined Mark Swartzberg on Relevant Radio to discuss how we can use AI without “losing our minds.” He began with Aristotle’s three acts of the mind: understanding what something is, judging what is true or false, and reasoning from what we know toward what we do not know.
Those skills require something increasingly difficult in a screen-filled world: attention.
Dr. Bungum offered a surprisingly simple test: Draw a bird. How accurately can you reproduce its details? If we move through life passively consuming images and information, we risk losing the habit of closely observing reality for ourselves.
The antidote begins with prayer.
“Prayer makes you smarter,” Dr. Bungum recalled learning from his mentor, Father Andrew Pinsent. Prayer gives us time away from the noise to encounter God, who is Truth, and to understand the deeper meaning of what we encounter.
Dr. Bungum pointed to Jesus as the model: He repeatedly withdrew to pray before returning to serve others. We need a similar rhythm of contemplation and action. AI can be a powerful tool for our work, but we also need time apart from technology to pray, study, create, and think.
Rather than simply consuming information, Dr. Bungum encouraged listeners to study something they care about and then share what they learn with others.
AI should serve the intellectual life – not replace it.
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