AI Strategies to Safeguard Personal Development

By Stefan Auvache

I use AI every day.

As a software engineer, I use it to write better code in less time. In my writing, I use it to work through ideas and edit drafts.

AI can solve what used to be day-long, brain-busting problems in seconds. It can map out plans, make polished products, and do a lot of your work for you. The effortlessness of AI is tempting—but it isn’t always good for you.

Imagine going to the gym for leg day. You have a tough regimen lined up—squats, deadlifts, jump rope. It’s your least favorite day, but you know you shouldn’t skip it. Luckily, you have a robot that does every rep for you. Ten minutes later, the workout is “done” and you head home feeling great.

This is obviously absurd. The point of going to the gym is to get stronger—not just to check off a workout.

The same is true for intellectual and creative work. If you let AI do all the heavy lifting, you don’t get any better. Critical thinking, problem-solving, communication—these skills weaken when you stop using them in place of AI.

I use AI daily to be more productive, but I follow a set of principles that protect me from atrophy. These guidelines help me use AI while still improving my skills, my understanding, and my creativity.

Principle 1: Focus on Understanding, Not Outsourcing

Treat AI like a tutor, not a friend who lets you copy answers in class.

We learn by engaging with problems—by asking questions, struggling to understand, and finding solutions. If AI does all the work for you without any effort on your part, you don’t learn anything. The assignment might be finished, but you are no better for it.

To use AI without sacrificing learning, you need to use AI as a guide that explains concepts and helps you think—not as a shortcut that does your thinking for you. Keep your core skills—writing, thinking, problem-solving—sharp by doing them yourself. If AI gives you the answer to a problem, ask follow up questions. Ask it to explain how it reached a particular conclusion so you aren’t left in the dark.

Here is a good test to see if you should work through an issue yourself or completely hand it off to AI: will doing this task teach you something valuable?

If so, don’t outsource it. Do the work. If you run into problems, use AI to learn how to work through them.

If not, let AI handle it and use the time you save for more valuable work.

AI is an incredible resource. Use it to learn more, not less.

Principle 2: Don’t Use AI to Do Less Work—Use It to Do More Work, Better

The true value of AI lies in leverage.

It’s tempting to think that saving time with AI means you get to do less, but that mindset misses an opportunity for increased productivity and fulfillment. The time you save can (and should) be reinvested into doing more meaningful, high-quality work.

Think about a local musician who wants to make a living performing her own music. She loves to write songs and sing, but there is much more to the business than that. She needs to book gigs, build a following, and handle music distribution. By using AI to more effectively take care of these tasks, she frees up more time for writing, rehearsing, and recording. AI, in this way, empowers her to do more of the creative work she enjoys.

By letting AI take care of routine or mundane tasks, you free yourself to dig deeper into more important matters.

Use AI to do more, not less.

Principle 3: Treat AI Like a Competent Intern, Not a Magic Robot

Don’t think of AI as a tool. Think of it as a teammate.

This mindset has transformed my workflow. AI works best when you converse with it. Provide context, set clear constraints, and give feedback just like you would with an intern or new coworker.

The back-and-forth process you use in any problem-solving situation can be used with AI to breed fantastic results. You wouldn’t ask an intern to write a report for you and then hand it to your boss under your name without reviewing it (hopefully). Instead of accepting its first answer, review and collaborate to improve results. Use AI to challenge your thinking. Ask it to poke holes in your ideas and offer counterarguments. Brainstorm together to find solutions to problems.

Keep in mind that, just like anyone else, AI can be confident even when it’s wrong. It is not a magic robot that will do all of your work perfectly. Always verify that the output you receive makes sense before using it. Treat AI’s suggestions as drafts, not finished products.

Protect Your Personal Development

AI can dramatically boost your productivity, but it carries real risks. Protect your personal development. Use AI to get better, not worse.

Follow these simple strategies:

• Focus on learning, not outsourcing.
• Leverage AI to do deep, fulfilling work more often.
• Collaborate with AI as you would an intern or teammate.