Interacting with AI offers a unique opportunity to refine our communication skills by acting as a "mirror" for our thought processes.
Because AI models are radically literal and cannot infer meaning, they expose the fuzzy thinking and unstated assumptions that often go unnoticed in human-human interactions.
The discipline of crafting explicit instructions for AI, much like practicing Nonviolent Communication, can help humans practice clarifying our needs, context, and desired outcomes before we ask for help from other humans, too — thereby improving our ability to communicate with greater precision in all relationships.
Ultimately, by learning to be explicit with AI, and challenging vague human requests, humans can learn to reclaim our cognitive agency and, at the same time, develop clearer thinking, stronger boundaries, and more intentional human connections.
Who would have ever imagined this? Not me. But it’s happening to me right now.
Further resources for this discussion include:
In the NVC Dojo: A Dialogue on Communication, AI and Reclaiming Human Agency
