With the continuous advancement of artificial intelligence, taking notes still holds significant importance.
Some people believe that since the release of GPT-4, we have entered a new era of artificial intelligence where taking notes and building a second brain are no longer important. However, I am skeptical of this viewpoint and even believe that taking notes becomes even more important in the age of artificial intelligence.
Although artificial intelligence is a powerful tool, it is just that – a tool. For example, the artificial intelligence tools I have used, such as ChatGPT, Notion AI, new Bing, ChatPDF, are becoming increasingly powerful and have significantly reduced the time I spend on information gathering. This means I have more time for introspection, shifting my focus from recording general information to deepening my thoughts and understanding data.
This both excites and scares me. I am excited because I can use this opportunity to further explore my potential and become even more powerful than before. However, I am also afraid that I might become too dependent on artificial intelligence, just like how we can't live without our smartphones.
However, the more I use tools like ChatGPT, the more I realize that regardless of how artificial intelligence develops, specialized knowledge remains crucial. While artificial intelligence tools may lower the entry barrier, they also raise the upper limit. The more specialized knowledge I possess, the better I can utilize artificial intelligence tools, ask better questions, and benefit from them.
Clearly, taking notes can help us acquire specialized knowledge. At the same time, notes serve as a bridge between our knowledge and the digital world in the age of artificial intelligence. (At least for now, because technology is advancing so rapidly that I can't imagine if there will soon be technologies like brain-machine interfaces that can complete this step for us.)
Before artificial intelligence tools can assist us, we first need to provide them with accurate information, and only we can provide them with the information we see in the world to obtain the information we desire.
Artificial intelligence may reduce our need for traditional note-taking, but capturing our thoughts and insights remains crucial. Recording personal thoughts is something that artificial intelligence cannot do for us.
Similarly, while artificial intelligence may excel in certain fields, human intuition, creativity, and moral judgment remain irreplaceable. For example, in the medical field, artificial intelligence can assist doctors in diagnosing diseases and formulating treatment plans, but human judgment is still crucial when making final decisions.
Therefore, striking a balance between the efficiency of artificial intelligence and maintaining cognitive abilities is crucial. Taking notes can promote critical thinking and self-awareness, keeping our minds sharp.
This is why I believe that even in the age of artificial intelligence, taking notes remains important, if not more important.
We need to embrace the power of our thoughts, insights, and creativity. Taking notes helps us record, deepen understanding, organize thoughts, and stimulate creative thinking and innovation. As artificial intelligence develops, we need to emphasize writing and thinking skills even more, as it is an investment in ourselves.
Ultimately, artificial intelligence is a tool created by humans to enhance and liberate productivity, just like how a hammer and chisel are more valuable in the hands of a craftsman. Similarly, artificial intelligence is valuable in the hands of experts in their respective fields. How we use it depends on us.