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Why am I writing again after a long break, and under a new name? Because AI, which is arguably one of the biggest technological shifts of our time, could become the biggest booster for our growth or could drag us down. It all depends on how we use it. I changed the name from Binary Circuit to The Useful Pause to reflect what I will be writing about going forward.
AI is already reaching people faster than the internet or the personal computer did. By August 2024, nearly 40 percent of Americans aged 18 to 64 had used generative AI.
I believe this is good news. AI can help us learn faster, work better, create more, and solve problems that once took far more time. We should use it to grow.
But we should not hand over our thinking to it.
AI should be a tool we use, not a tool that starts using us. If we stop questioning answers, thinking through problems, or following our own curiosity, we risk losing the judgment that helps us decide what is true, useful, and worth doing.
The same is true beyond AI. Social media, short videos, breaking-news alerts, market apps, and endless notifications all compete for our attention. Technology is not bad. It has made life better in many ways. The real question is whether we are using it with intention.
How do you know when to pause?
For me, it starts with watching myself. In Advaita Vedanta, there is the idea of sakshi, or the witness: the awareness that watches your thoughts and actions without getting carried away by them.
Think about watching a movie. At some point, you can become so absorbed that you feel as though you are living inside the story. Yet you are still sitting in the theater. In the same way, we can get pulled into screens, habits, impulses, and distractions without noticing it.
Being the watcher does not mean withdrawing from life or technology. It means creating a small gap before acting. That gap is where judgment lives.
Before opening an AI tool, checking the news again, or scrolling through another set of videos, I try to ask myself: Is this useful right now? Am I gaining something, or am I just reacting?
I used to check stock prices repeatedly during the day. Now, eight out of ten times, I remind myself: I am not a day trader. Why am I looking at this again? One check in the evening is often enough.
It works on small things too. I like desserts. Every night I would want one. I ask myself, do I really need this? Sometimes I put it aside, or just take one bite. Guess what, most nights I still end up having one. But now I know I am choosing it.
I use AI often. I use it to research, write, learn, and improve my work. But I do not want it to replace the part of me that thinks, questions, and decides.
I am not saying that you stop using it, or that you have to be perfect. Just notice what you are doing and why.
Use AI to grow. Use technology to improve your life. But know when to pause.
You are the watcher.