Thinking AI: The Most Important Skill of the AI Age
Most people use AI as a tool. The ones pulling ahead use it as a thinking partner.
For thousands of years, technology helped humans do things faster, stronger, and more efficiently. The wheel improved transportation. Engines amplified physical power. Computers accelerated calculations. But artificial intelligence is fundamentally different. For the first time in history, we are building technology that can extend our thinking.
AI can analyze ideas, challenge assumptions, generate strategies, and explore possibilities that would take humans days or weeks to consider. Yet most people still treat AI like a simple tool – asking it basic questions or using it to write emails. Why? Because we were never taught how to train our thinking.
In this thought-provoking keynote, Menny Barzilay explores the concept of "Thinking AI" – the emerging skill of using artificial intelligence as a cognitive partner rather than a productivity tool. The talk examines why many people struggle to adopt AI, the psychological barriers that prevent deeper use, and how individuals and organizations can learn to collaborate with intelligent systems to dramatically expand their thinking.