Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
AI as Thought Partner: How to Use LLMs to Transform Your Notes (3rd of 3 seminars)
Summary
There is a lot of hype around AI. But in many ways, AI’s potential for augmenting your cognitive abilities has been undersold. Learn how tools such as ChatGPT can become valuable collaborators that expand and refine your thinking. This seminar by Duly Noted author Jorge Arango shows you how to augment your notes using popular AI tools. Watch Part 1 Watch Part 2
Key Insights
-
•
Generative AI models like GPT-4 are best viewed as powerful symbol manipulation tools, not sentient intelligences.
-
•
Digital notes serve as cognitive augmentation devices that expand our thinking abilities.
-
•
Having direct control over note data enables better integration with AI tools compared to cloud-locked systems.
-
•
AI can effectively assist with summarizing, translating (including to domain-specific jargon), synthesizing, and connecting ideas.
-
•
Using AI as an amanuensis—a kind of super secretary—is a practical middle ground for augmenting cognition.
-
•
Uploading documents like PDFs into AI chat interfaces allows jargon simplification, e.g., explaining academic papers to a 10-year-old.
-
•
Transparency about which content is AI-generated is essential to avoid confusion or mistaken ownership of ideas.
-
•
API access to AI models offers more privacy and customization than chat interfaces, which may use data for training.
-
•
AI tends to produce middle-of-the-road feedback, requiring user expertise to detect inaccuracies or hallucinations.
-
•
Plugins like Smart Connections in Obsidian use local models to find non-linked related notes safely without sending data externally.
Notable Quotes
"Thinking is something that happens as the brain interacts with the world, not just inside our heads."
"These tools are the most powerful symbol manipulation tools ever created, like spreadsheets for language."
"Notes are preeminent things for thinking with because they expand our cognitive abilities."
"I think of AI models as amanuenses, like super secretaries aiding scholars in the early modern period."
"Uploading a paper and asking the AI to explain it as if I was a bright 10-year-old helps break through jargon."
"You want to be very clear about what was generated by AI and what is your own stuff in your notes."
"If you use these chat interfaces, your data might be used for training, but API access can preserve privacy."
"AI gives feedback that’s generally conventional and middle-of-the-road, so you need to verify its output."
"I wouldn’t want AI to think for me; these tools are to help me grow, not replace my thinking."
"The ultimate purpose with AI-augmented note-taking is to think more effectively, not to outsource thought."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Short-term learnings kind of roll into long-term ones as you iterate and build on historical findings."
Taylor Jennings Joe Nelson Alex KnollRepository Retrospective: Learnings from Introducing a Central Place for UX Research
March 9, 2022
"Destiny is the belief that a certain future outcome is predetermined regardless of the path."
Nicole AleongFuture Orientations to Everyday Life: Futures Anthropology as a Methodology
March 26, 2024
"The innovation studio bakes in strategic vision, leadership, funding, and ownership."
Jeff GothelfInnovation Studios: the Engines of Enterprise Experimentation
May 14, 2015
"By designing products through the lens of edge cases like disabilities first, they often become better products for everyone."
Saara Kamppari-MillerDesignOps for Inclusive Design and Accessibility
May 26, 2022
"It’s the individuals who choose whether and how they take advantage of the opportunities you create."
Tess DixonC'mon Get Happy
September 29, 2021
"We ran ambient workshops so folks could contribute on their own time and remove the friction of synchronous meetings."
Liam ThurstonWhy Your Design Team Is Quitting, And How To Fix It
June 10, 2022
"Leadership doesn’t only mean managing; it can be mentoring, product leadership, or technical influence."
Ian SwinsonDesigning and Driving UX Careers
June 8, 2016
"At Atlassian, many confident non-researchers were already doing lots of research, which was an opportunity and a challenge."
Leisa ReicheltOpening Keynote: Operating in Context
November 7, 2018
"At Sage Sure, we build paved roads so people can choose to drive on them or carve their own path."
Rachael Greene Alison DavisBuilding a Design Ops Practice that Really Works (Most of the Time)
October 2, 2025
