AI Revives Ancient Fear of Losing Self-Control

The article places AI fears in a historical line stretching back to Socrates, who worried writing would 'implant forgetfulness.' Johannes Trithemius argued printed books would never match handwritten ones, and 1980s calculator use was later shown to weaken mental fluency. Each technology prompted the same dread: that we'd lose our cognitive edge.

What's new with AI, the piece argues, is that it targets thinking itself, not just writing or calculating. It surfaces impostor syndrome and a deeper worry about self-control, framed through Aristotle's spectrum from temperance to indulgence. The article suggests our response depends on whether we use AI as a practice tool or a shortcut.

The article uses the myth of the sirens as a metaphor, noting that The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan, opened in July and passed $1 billion at the global box office, becoming his biggest film. This popularity, the author implies, reflects a collective recognition of our own vulnerability to temptation.