Once upon a time, in the Paleolithic, there was a stonecutter who “conversed” with rocks.
In a shapeless stone, he could see a spearhead or a bowl. With repeated strikes, the flint would finally reveal its useful form.

Later, humans discovered metal: copper, then bronze, then iron.
With these new chisels, they dared to take on immense projects: the Great Pyramids themselves are mountains of “stones” reshaped with copper.

Centuries later, in the 15th century, another stonecutter gazed at the marble quarries of Carrara. In his mind already stood statues and mausoleums.
Today, computer-guided lasers cut steel with inhuman precision.

Yet the approach has not changed: extract the raw, discern a form within, and use ever more powerful tools to give it existence — whether artistic or utilitarian.

What differences are there between the Paleolithic stonecutter and Michelangelo, Jaume Plensa, or Richard Serra? Perhaps two: the creativity of their minds and the power of their tools.

Hence my question: do tools transform our brains? And in what direction?

Was the mind of the flint knapper more developed than that of the Renaissance sculptor?

And what about us, today — are our minds really “diminished” by the capacities of our tools?

For here comes the most recent of them all. No longer a chisel, but a “super-tool”: Artificial Intelligence.

Some fear it may numb our minds. Yet at every stage, humans have worried that their tools would replace them.

And each time, it was a new horizon that opened.

And you, dear reader — do you fear your mind might stiffen if you use AI?

Here is another article abour IA and human intelligence: Can AIs Make Humans More Intelligent?