Technology is changing our world. But is it also changing us? Image courtesy: AI Are AI and Modern Tools Changing Human Default Settings? – A Personal Reflection Introduction: A Small Incident That Made Me Think 🤔 Recently, I started noticing small changes in my daily life. Not big changes, not sudden changes — but silent changes. Technology was not only making my life easier; it was slowly changing my habits, my thinking, and somewhere, it was also changing me. One afternoon, the summer heat was unbearable. My body felt as ...
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Are AI and Modern Tools Changing Human Default Settings? – A Personal Reflection
Introduction: A Small Incident That Made Me Think 🤔
Recently, I started noticing small changes in my daily life. Not big changes, not sudden changes — but silent changes. Technology was not only making my life easier; it was slowly changing my habits, my thinking, and somewhere, it was also changing me.
One afternoon, the summer heat was unbearable. My body felt as if it was burning. I came inside the home, and right in front of me there was a large earthen pot full of naturally cool water. But without even thinking, I opened the refrigerator, took out a bottle of very cold water, and drank it quickly.
After some time, I started sneezing. Soon I caught a cold. Then I started thinking — why did I drink water from the refrigerator when cool water from the earthen pot was already there in front of me?
The refrigerator did not force me. But my mind automatically chose the refrigerator. At that moment, I realized something important: the modern tool did not just change my comfort; it slowly reduced my natural ability to tolerate heat.
That day, a simple question came to my mind:
Are modern tools slowly changing our natural abilities?
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Effort vs Comfort: What Are We Losing? ⚖️
I remember another small experiment from the kitchen. Peanut chutney was made in two different ways. One was prepared by crushing peanuts in a traditional mortar and pestle. The other was made using a mixer-grinder.
When we tasted both, the chutney made in the mortar and pestle was more aromatic, more flavorful, and more satisfying than the chutney made in the mixer.
The mixer saved time and effort, but the taste was not the same. In the mortar, the peanuts were slowly crushed and pressed. In the mixer, they were simply cut into very fine pieces by fast blades. The process was different, so the result was different.
But still, we prefer the mixer because it saves time and physical effort. Slowly, we start choosing comfort over effort. And when we always choose comfort, we slowly lose strength, patience, and sometimes even quality.
This made me realize that modern tools do not only change how we work; they also change what we experience. By saving effort, sometimes we lose quality. By choosing comfort, sometimes we lose strength.
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Technology and Human Emotions ❤️
Even in very personal and emotional areas of life, I feel technology has changed our mindset. Even today, children are born just as they were in the past. But now modern technology has entered this process in many ways. Pregnancy tests can give results very early, and many people want to know everything in advance.
Because of this, the natural period of waiting, patience, imagination, and emotional preparation that parents used to experience earlier is slowly reducing. When everything is known in advance, the emotional journey of waiting changes.
Technology is useful, but when it removes patience and natural emotional development, it also changes the human experience. In some cases, this has even led to serious social problems like female feticide and abortion. This shows that technology does not only change comfort; it can also change emotions, decisions, and society.
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From Remembering to Searching 🧠
I noticed another change in myself. I don’t remember phone numbers anymore. Earlier, I knew many phone numbers by heart. Now I don’t even know a few numbers by memory. I just search in my phone.
Earlier, if I did not know something, I used to think, ask people, discuss, or try to find the answer slowly. Now I immediately search on Google or ask AI. I get an instant answer.
Earlier, I used to think more. Now I search more.
Technology has given me quick answers, but it has also reduced my habit of deep thinking.
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The Disappearing Silence 🤫
Earlier, sometimes there was nothing to do. We used to sit quietly, go for a walk, observe people, or just think. Those quiet moments were actually very important. That was the time when we thought about our life.
Now, whenever I get free time, I pick up my phone. There is always something to watch, read, or scroll. Now I am rarely bored. But I am also rarely alone with my own thoughts.
This is a very big change, and we are not even noticing it.
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Human Touch vs Machine Perfection ✍️
Today, everywhere one looks, one sees identical AI-generated applications, forms, messages, and writing. Everything is neat, fast, and grammatically correct — but many times, everything also feels the same.
But sometimes, when I come across a page written in beautiful handwriting, it feels as though a peacock feather has gently brushed against my skin. There is warmth in it. There is a human touch in it. There is imperfection in it, and that imperfection feels alive.
AI-generated writing is perfect, but human writing is personal.
AI-generated content is fast, but human effort is felt.
AI can generate words, but it cannot generate lived experience.
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My Experience With AI and Human Emotions 🤖🎶
AI gathers a vast repository of words from the world. However, our mind—with its raw experiences, fluidity, subtle tremors, emotional complexities, yearnings, deep awareness, and intensity—possesses qualities that simply cannot be encapsulated in words. For that, one requires the sensibility of a poet.
This realization brought to mind a personal experience. I was searching for a Marathi song to rekindle some old memories, and eventually, I found it. That beautiful song is “तुला ते आठवेल का सारे?” which means, “Will you remember all those moments?” — a song lingering in the delicate recesses of the mind, and upon the lips. AI can translate this sentence, but the pain, memories, and emotions behind this line can only be felt by a human heart.
This renowned Marathi bhavgeet (lyrical song), sung by Suman Kalyanpur and written by Mangesh Padgaonkar, evokes memories through its evocative lyrics. The way this song creates an entire emotional universe through its melodious voice and musical composition is something that, I believe, AI simply cannot replicate.
You too can feel this experience by listening carefully to the words, their meaning, the poet’s emotions, and the emotional tone of the singer when you listen to this song on social media. Only then can one understand that some things are not just heard — they are felt.
Are We Changing Our Default Settings? ⚙️
All these small incidents made me think deeply. Modern tools are not only helping us; they are slowly shaping us.
When we don’t use memory, memory becomes weak.
When we don’t wait, patience becomes weak.
When we don’t think deeply, thinking becomes shallow.
When we always avoid discomfort, our tolerance becomes weak.
So slowly, without any announcement, our default settings are changing.
Earlier, the human default setting was: remember, think, wait, discuss, imagine, tolerate, and make effort.
Now the new default setting is becoming: search, click, scroll, ask, generate, avoid discomfort, and avoid effort.
This is not a technology problem. This is a human decision.
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Final Thought 💭
Technology is not wrong. AI is not wrong. Modern tools are not wrong. They are powerful, useful, and necessary.
But we must be careful that while machines are becoming more intelligent, humans should not become less patient, less thoughtful, and less emotionally strong.
The future will not depend on how intelligent AI becomes.
The future will depend on how intelligent humans remain while using AI.
And that is why this question stays in my mind:
Are AI and modern tools changing human default settings?
I think the answer is yes — slowly, silently, and comfortably.
And I am still thinking about it.
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Marathi "Bhavgeet "Song Courtesy : “तुला ते आठवेल का सारे?”
Lyricist: Mangesh Padgaonkar.
Singer: Suman Kalyanpur.
Music Director: Vishwanath More.
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