Cognitive Outsourcing - The Calculator Problem

Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In my previous post, I’ve been working out why Gemini at work leaves me worse off while Claude at home leaves me sharper. I think I’ve hit the root cause of this. The “metabolising” occurs more “upstream” with Claude than Gemini, where it happens “downstream” at contact with the stakeholders.

This reminds me of the calculator analogy. Using a calculator won’t get you better at mathematics. But being already good at mathematics will help you get more out of the calculator. AI feels the same way to me, and I am convinced, like many of my peers on LinkedIn, that experience and expertise matter more now than ever. The axiom of Garbage In Garbage Out holds true even now.

Cognitive Outsourcing

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I have been using Claude for my personal life. I am yet to use it to automate my life, like what every other person on LinkedIn is boasting about. But I am actively using the Project mode, specifically where a Claude project has been set up as a PM career coach to think through what the next phase of my professional career would be like, be it in my current workplace or another place.

Projects on Adithya Venkat

Cognitive Outsourcing - The Calculator Problem

Cognitive Outsourcing