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This recent season, I was caught in gridlocked traffic on the scorching streets of Marseille. At a crossing, my companion in the front seat suggested a right turn toward a renowned spot for fish soup. Yet, the navigation app on my phone commanded us to continue straight. Weary and overheated, I heeded the algorithm's directive. Moments later, we were stranded at a construction site.

A minor incident, perhaps. But one that captures a central dilemma of our time, where digital tools permeates nearly every facet of existence: whom do we trust to a greater degree – fellow humans and our own intuition, or the machine?

The Enlightenment's Promise and A Contemporary Backslide

The renowned German philosopher Immanuel Kant once defined the Enlightenment as "man's release from its self-imposed nonage." This immaturity, he wrote, "represents the inability to use one's personal reason without direction from another." For ages, that directing force for human thought was frequently the clergyman, the monarch, or the feudal lord – entities purporting to speak for divine will. To explain natural events like changing seasons, people sought answers in religion. In organizing the social world, from commerce to matters of the heart, faith served as the main compass.

“Sapere aude!” or “Dare to use your reason!”

Kant maintained that humans had the ability to think rationally. They just didn't have the boldness to employ it. With upheavals in the 18th century, a fresh era arrived: reason would replace blind faith, and the intellect, freed from dogma, would become the engine of progress and a more ethical world.

Now, two and a half centuries later, one might wonder if we are quietly regressing into a state of intellectual immaturity. An app suggesting a direction is just one example. Artificial intelligence threatens to become our contemporary authority – a unseen overseer that influences our decisions and actions. We risk ceding the hard-won courage to think independently – and this time, not to gods or kings, but to computer programs.

The Rapid Rise and Hidden Risks of AI Dependence

ChatGPT debuted a mere three years ago, and already a global survey found that an overwhelming majority of people had engaged with artificial intelligence in the previous six months. Whether deciding on ending a relationship or selecting a vote, individuals are increasingly turning to algorithms for guidance. Research suggests a large majority of user queries concern non-work topics. Even more intriguing than our reliance on AI for advice is what happens when we let it speak for us. Writing is now one of the most common uses for generative AI, just behind practical requests. The late American author Joan Didion once remarked, “I write purely to discover what I am thinking.” What transpires when we stop composing? Do we cease discovering?

Alarmingly, emerging research suggests the answer may be affirmative. A study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used electroencephalography to observe the mental engagement of participants who had access to AI, Google, or nothing. Those who could use AI displayed the least cognitive engagement and had difficulty quoting their own work. Maybe most concerning was that over time, individuals in the AI group became increasingly reliant, copying entire blocks of text.

“Laziness and cowardice,” Kant wrote, “are the reasons why so great a proportion of men … remain in lifelong immaturity.”

Certainly, AI's appeal stems from its efficiency. It is fast, minimizes work and – critically – offers a new method to abdicate responsibility. In his 1941 book, Escape from Freedom, the German psychoanalyst Erich Fromm argued that the rise of fascism could be partly explained by a preference to surrender autonomy in exchange for the comforting security of obedience. AI offers a modern method of surrendering the burden of having to think and choose.

The Opacity Dilemma: Faith Over Reason

AI's greatest allure is its ability to accomplish things outside human capability – analyzing vast datasets at lightning pace. Stuck in the car in Marseille, this was, ultimately, why I chose to trust the app over my companion (a decision she took as an insult). With access to all the data, certainly the algorithm had superior insight – or so I believed.

The fundamental problem is that AI is a black box. It generates knowledge, but without necessarily deepening human comprehension. We do not truly know the process behind its conclusions – including its creators admit this. Nor can we check its logic against transparent standards. So when we follow AI's recommendation, we are not being guided by reason. We are back in the domain of belief. In dubio pro machina: when in doubt, trust the machine – that could be our future credo.

Harnessing Without Eroding: The Essential Challenge

AI can be a formidable ally for mankind in scientific pursuit. It can aid in inventing drugs, free us from tedious tasks, or manage administrative chores – duties that are repetitive and offer little satisfaction. All to the good. But Kant and his peers did not champion enlightenment just so humans could optimize chores or have more leisure. Independent thought was not merely about productivity – it was a practice of freedom and human self-determination.

Human thought is inherently messy and error-prone, but it forces us to argue, to question, to challenge concepts – and to acknowledge the boundaries of our own knowledge. It fosters confidence, both personally and collectively. For Kant, the use of reason was never only about information; it was about empowering people to become authors of their own lives, and to oppose control. It was about creating a moral community based on the common foundation of rational discourse, rather than blind belief.

With all the advantages AI brings, the paramount challenge remains: how can we leverage its promise of superhuman intelligence without undermining human rationality, the bedrock of the Enlightenment and of free societies itself? That is likely one of the defining questions of our time. It is a question we must strive not to outsource to the machine.