Eye and Ear Protection, Navigating AI Consumption

If you’re like most professionals today, you’re probably feeling overwhelmed, if not outright fatigued, by the constant barrage of artificial intelligence advertising, AI marketing, AI platforms, AI tools, and AI learning programs. Every day it’s another headline, learn this tool, master this platform, join the 28 day challenge. The pace is relentless. Rather than suggesting that you add yet another AI tool to your already full plate, I want to offer a different consideration, one that may be more valuable in the long run. That is the deliberate practice of critical thinking and discernment every time you place yourself in front of a screen. This isn’t a new problem. It didn’t begin with AI, social media, or even the internet. We can trace the roots back to the rise of television in the 1950s, and its cultural acceleration through the 1980s with cable television and MTV. A generation didn’t suddenly become screen dependent in middle age, they were conditioned from youth. Over decades, we’ve become fully acclimated, perhaps even indoctrinated, by screens, often without a clear awareness of how profoundly this has shaped not only perception, but cognition itself. Today, the stakes are higher. We are no longer dealing with passive entertainment or simple refresh rates designed to hold attention. We’re now navigating a world of deepfake audio and synthetic video and AI generated content that can convincingly mimic reality. The result is an erosion of trust in what we see and what we hear, and without a strong internal filter, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate truth from persuasion. There’s an interesting body of research around how deaf individuals communicate and how, in some cases, they approach communication with heightened skepticism. When hearing is removed from the equation, visual cues, body language, facial expression, congruence, become far more prominent. When words and nonverbal signals don’t align, trust erodes quickly. That insight should give us pause. Most of what we believe about others, often cited as 80 to 90 percent, is derived not from words, but from visual and behavioral cues. What happens when those cues can be artificially manufactured at scale? Historically, societies understood the need for guardrails. Film ratings, G, PG, R, weren’t about censorship, they were about discernment and responsibility, especially for those entrusted with others’ development. Somewhere along the way, even discussing standards or boundaries became controversial. The Overton window has shifted so far that advocating for thoughtful limits can be mischaracterized as intolerance, when in reality it’s about stewardship. That brings us to the present moment. Now more than ever, it’s essential to guard your eyes and guard your ears. This isn’t paranoia and it isn’t fear based thinking. It’s a practical acknowledgment that information today is streamed directly into your nervous system. Without a well developed discernment filter, one that is intentionally practiced, you will be influenced, often subtly, in ways that may not align with your values, your goals, or your desired growth. And this is the core issue. Many of us no longer have a deliberate plan for growth. After formal education ends, growth often becomes accidental. We grow by exposure. We consume content, and it changes us, sometimes productively, often not. We stop asking foundational questions. Is this information accurate? Is it useful? What agenda might be driving it? Am I consciously choosing this input, or am I surrendering my attention, and with it my agency, one scroll at a time? The dopamine loop of short form content feels productive, but frequently produces no measurable growth or results. I remember my father in the late 1970s referring to television as the boob tube. At the time, I didn’t fully understand. He wasn’t an academic, and he wasn’t much of a reader, but he intuitively grasped something important. People who consistently read, reflect, and think critically tend to develop deeper understanding than those who passively consume. As we move further into the age of AI, the question isn’t whether these tools are powerful, they are. The question is whether we are equally disciplined in how we consume, evaluate, and integrate what we see and hear. Protecting your eyes and ears isn’t about resisting progress. It’s about preserving your ability to think, choose, and grow intentionally in a world that profits from your attention.