262: The Strategic Deployment of Friction

Where do we start, Mike?

Let's start with, uh, AI for research.

So this was the first part of the episode.

This was, uh, Ezra Klein, and the big idea here is the, uh...

He talks about the, the act of erosion.

He has a line in there that AI isn't bad, it's specifically good at the parts of the work that he most needs to do himself.

So he's recognizing that AI is good at this research stuff, but also that's the valuable part of the process for him.

Yeah.

And he's trying to figure out, you know, what do I actually delegate, what do I hold onto myself? Um, and this was basically a, a different version of this question is something that I posed to James Clear at the Craft and Commerce conference.

I was like, "Where do you think about AI in the writing process? And are any parts of it that are sacred to you?" So Ezra is basically saying that the actual research and putting together the, the RAND report, um, is the example he used.

That is sacred to him because of the friction that comes along with that being the mechanism for leveling up the skill.

I think that's really the, the overarching theme here, is as we're talking about where and when to use AI, how do we stay sharp? How do we not become just the, the dull knife in the drawer, uh, as we let it just s- uh, eat up all this stuff as it becomes better at, at different things? And I think that's a pretty interesting question.

You know, where do you draw the line? If...

What friction is productive and what isn't when it comes to, uh, the work that you do?

Yeah.

I...

You know, the big point I got out of his portion is that it's only when he lives with something for a long time that he truly starts to understand it, you know? Uh, the process of reading several books on a topic means that you've got the topic running in your subconscious, you know, for days or weeks, and that's where the insight comes from, from living with it.

And where if you have a magic box that just gives you the research and you can just read a nice summary and be like you know it, you don't know it as well, but you also don't have the benefit of the sub process in your brain going for weeks or months, and as a result, you don't get as much insight, and I thought that was very true.

I mean, I think that, uh, some of my best thoughts come from stewing something over for a long time, and I hadn't really thought about it in respect to AI.

It doesn't do it...

Uh, for me personally, AI does some research, but usually it's introductory research just to get me to the right spot.

The big argument of my productivity field guide is virtue-based living, you know, that you live based on a virtue system.

And I had several people writing me from different religious traditions saying, "You know, we have something kind of like that in Judaism," or, you know, Islam or whatever.

And, and I thought, "That's interesting." So I had AI prepare me a reading list, but I did the reading, you know? And I don't think I would have got to that reading list as quickly, but I, I was the one who went and kind of explored it And I, I do think there's something to that, you know?

Yeah, and that's the, the fascinating thing to me about all of this is AI definitely reduces the friction, but sometimes reducing the friction is good, sometimes reducing the friction is bad.

Where do we start, Mike?

Let's start with, uh, AI for research.

So this was the first part of the episode.

This was, uh, Ezra Klein, and the big idea here is the, uh...

He talks about the, the act of erosion.

He has a line in there that AI isn't bad, it's specifically good at the parts of the work that he most needs to do himself.

So he's recognizing that AI is good at this research stuff, but also that's the valuable part of the process for him.

Yeah.

And he's trying to figure out, you know, what do I actually delegate, what do I hold onto myself? Um, and this was basically a, a different version of this question is something that I posed to James Clear at the Craft and Commerce conference.

I was like, "Where do you think about AI in the writing process? And are any parts of it that are sacred to you?" So Ezra is basically saying that the actual research and putting together the, the RAND report, um, is the example he used.

That is sacred to him because of the friction that comes along with that being the mechanism for leveling up the skill.

I think that's really the, the overarching theme here, is as we're talking about where and when to use AI, how do we stay sharp? How do we not become just the, the dull knife in the drawer, uh, as we let it just s- uh, eat up all this stuff as it becomes better at, at different things? And I think that's a pretty interesting question.

You know, where do you draw the line? If...

What friction is productive and what isn't when it comes to, uh, the work that you do?

Yeah.

I...

You know, the big point I got out of his portion is that it's only when he lives with something for a long time that he truly starts to understand it, you know? Uh, the process of reading several books on a topic means that you've got the topic running in your subconscious, you know, for days or weeks, and that's where the insight comes from, from living with it.

And where if you have a magic box that just gives you the research and you can just read a nice summary and be like you know it, you don't know it as well, but you also don't have the benefit of the sub process in your brain going for weeks or months, and as a result, you don't get as much insight, and I thought that was very true.

I mean, I think that, uh, some of my best thoughts come from stewing something over for a long time, and I hadn't really thought about it in respect to AI.

It doesn't do it...

Uh, for me personally, AI does some research, but usually it's introductory research just to get me to the right spot.

The big argument of my productivity field guide is virtue-based living, you know, that you live based on a virtue system.

And I had several people writing me from different religious traditions saying, "You know, we have something kind of like that in Judaism," or, you know, Islam or whatever.

And, and I thought, "That's interesting." So I had AI prepare me a reading list, but I did the reading, you know? And I don't think I would have got to that reading list as quickly, but I, I was the one who went and kind of explored it And I, I do think there's something to that, you know?

Yeah, and that's the, the fascinating thing to me about all of this is AI definitely reduces the friction, but sometimes reducing the friction is good, sometimes reducing the friction is bad.