Photo by Sudarshan Bhat on Unsplash

When I was trying to understand a complex subject, I had to embrace some willpower to grind through the documentation and recorded discussions.After a couple of hours of intense work, it suddenly clicked. I understood what the whole thing was about.

Aside from the satisfaction of success, I got a reminder that:

Hard work is required for deep understanding. No shortcuts there.

This isn’t just a nice slogan—it’s rooted in how our brains work. The brain is power-hungry, and in evolutionary terms, it’s wired to conserve energy. It needs a minimum threshold of effort before it commits resources to rewiring itself for a new skill or concept. Without that effort, understanding stays shallow, and the brain eventually purges what isn’t reinforced.

And here’s where AI creates a dilemma.

I had an AI summary before I started the deep dive. I could have read it, saved time and effort, but would have lost much more: I wouldn’t have understood the problem or the small but important nuances that make the difference.

That said, AI summaries have their place. When you need speed over depth—scanning unfamiliar domains, getting oriented quickly, or deciding if something deserves your attention—summaries are the right tool. But when the goal is genuine understanding, the summary can’t replace the grind.

The key isn’t to avoid AI—it’s knowing when depth matters.

Make the effort when understanding counts. Use AI when speed does.