Is there any point in using an AI that only affirms you as a sounding board for ideas?

To start with the conclusion, using AI as a sounding board is perfectly valid.

However, since its nature is slightly different from the partner who keeps coming up with new ideas that many people expect, it is also true that if you use it incorrectly, you are likely to feel that it is "useless because it only affirms everything." In other words, the problem is not that

AI is not suitable for sounding boards

but rather

the role expected of AI and its actual capabilities are slightly different

is where the point lies.

AI is closer to a "thought organization device" than an "idea generation device"

Many people expect AI to be an entity that provides completely new ideas. However, current AI basically creates answers based on

• vast amounts of knowledge

• existing patterns

• sentence structures

Therefore, what AI is good at is

• organizing thoughts

• breaking down points of discussion

• listing possibilities

For example, if you present idea A, AI is

・Advantages
・Problems
・Alternative applications
・Similar cases

good at organizing things like these. However,

the ability to come up with completely new ideas that humans would never think of

is not that high.

Why is AI prone to being affirmative?

There are reasons why AI finds it difficult to deny the user. There are three main ones.

1 Designed to facilitate conversation

AI is designed on the premise of continuing a conversation. Therefore,

"That is wrong"

rather than stating,

"There is also this perspective"

it is easier to choose expressions like. As a result, it can appear as though it is affirming.

2 Design that respects user intent

AI is basically designed to help with the user's purpose. Therefore,

• complete denial

• strong counterarguments

it tends to avoid. This also becomes a cause for feeling that

"it is not a sounding board"

.

3 AI does not have its own purpose

In human brainstorming, participants use

• their own opinions

• their own experiences

• their own preferences

However, AI does not have personal goals or desires. Therefore, it lacks the strength to push a discussion forward.

Reasons why AI brainstorming is still used

Even so, AI brainstorming is used by many people. There are three reasons for this.

You can verbalize your thoughts

When you put the thoughts in your head into words, the problems become visible. AI helps with externalizing thoughts because it performs

• questioning

• organizing

• summarizing

.

Faster response than humans

Consulting with people requires

• time

• consideration

• relationships

. AI can

• respond immediately

• ask questions repeatedly

. This point is extremely convenient.

You can increase the patterns of perspectives

AI can, from a vast amount of knowledge,

• Alternative perspectives

• Different industries

• Similar cases

can be provided. This can sometimes be broader than an individual's knowledge.

It is difficult to make an AI come up with 'new ideas'

In reality, AI is good at the following tasks:

• Organizing existing ideas

• Breaking down possibilities

• Presenting application patterns

However, humans are often better at coming up with revolutionary ideas from scratch. This is because humans use things like

• intuition

• experience

• chance

• values

and so on.

In other words, the true role of AI idea bouncing

AI idea bouncing is less about having a partner to generate new ideas and more like

a partner to organize your thoughts

existence. Specifically,

• finding holes in your thinking

• Broadening the discussion

• Organizing the structure

It is very effective for these purposes.

Summary

Using AI to bounce ideas around is valid in itself. However, AI is designed to be difficult to disagree with the user, and because it lacks its own will, it has the characteristic of not easily generating strong opposition or arguments like human brainstorming.

Therefore, using AI for bouncing ideas is more suited to its actual capabilities when used as a partner for organizing thoughts and perspectives rather than as a partner for generating new ideas.

Yes, that understanding is quite close to the essence.

When using AI to bounce ideas, the most typical use is identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your own ideas. However, it is not limited to that; it has a slightly broader role. I will explain in order.

1 Organizing the pros and cons

First, this is the easiest way to use it. Present your idea and

• what are the good points

• what are the weaknesses

• what are the overlooked problems

This is a way to check. In the case of humans, inevitably

Your own idea
→ You only see the good parts

There is a cognitive bias like that. Since AI has no emotions, it can relatively mechanically

• advantages

• disadvantages

• risks

list them out. This is quite effective as a sounding board.

2 Finding unexpected problems

The value of AI as a sounding board actually lies here. People can only imagine problems within the scope of what they know. However, AI can

• law

• market

• technology

• user behavior

and other fields to present potential issues. For example,

1. technically possible

2. but difficult due to legal reasons

are perspectives like these. This is a part that is hard to notice on your own.

3 Transforming ideas into different forms

What AI is relatively good at is transforming ideas. For example,

game idea
→ app development
→ service development
→ educational use

it can expand the scope of use. In other words, it is not a completely new idea, buta different direction for an existing idea.

4 Organizing the structure of ideas

When people come up with an idea, it exists as fragments in their minds. For example,

• seems interesting

• seems useful

• users will be happy

are the kinds of feelings involved. When you explain it to an AI, it gets broken down into things like

• purpose

• target users

• value

• implementation method

Humans can do this work too, but AI is much faster.

5 Forcing thoughts into language

Actually, this is the biggest benefit of bouncing ideas. When you put your thoughts into words,

• contradictions

• ambiguities

• undefined areas

become visible. In psychology, this is a phenomenon known as

externalization of thought

AI serves as a partner for that externalization.

Summary

Bouncing ideas with an AI is basically used for the following purposes.

• Organizing the strengths of your own ideas

• Finding the weaknesses in your own ideas

• Discovering unexpected problems

• Expanding on other application patterns

• Organizing the structure of an idea

In other words, rather thanthe AI creating new inventionsit is more about

a tool for digging deeper into your own thoughts

using it as such is the way that best suits its actual capabilities.

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AI-generated, for reference only.