AI Won’t Kill You. Burnout Will.
Steven Kotler: Flow & New Way of Living
2 min read · 11.8.2025
“AI’s not coming. It’s here.
“The question is: can we keep up?
“We built AI to save time. What we got was an avalanche of demands: more systems, more speed, more to manage.
“If you’re not training your brain to handle this new cognitive load—with tools like flow, risk calibration, and focused recovery—you’re not keeping pace.
“You’re overheating and heading for burn out.”
“AI is a mirror with a megaphone.
“The internet taught us that attention shapes reality. AI takes that to the next level. It trains on our patterns—what we consume, post, ignore. That means our daily habits are now training our machines. Feed them garbage, and don’t be shocked when they start to rot.
“You can’t outthink exponential—you have to outflow it.”
Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer at Google X and author of Scary Smart: The future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World, put it bluntly: “The tech is moving vertically. Humans are moving horizontally.”
“That’s a death sentence for linear thinkers. The way out? Altered states.
“Flow enhances pattern recognition, deepens focus, and collapses decision fatigue. Flow gives us what machines can’t: intuition, context, and clarity under pressure. That’s not luxury. That’s leverage.
“Peak performance is an existential decision.
“The bots are doing the busywork. But purpose, direction, values? That’s human terrain. And if you’re unclear, you can’t focus. If you can’t focus, you can’t flow. And without flow, you’ll never keep up. So yeah—peak performance isn’t just an edge. It’s survival.”
“Two Quotes That Hit Like a Lightning Bolt
“It’s not artificial intelligence. It’s synthetic intelligence. It’s made by us, trained by us, it’s a reflection of us. If it’s showing signs of insanity, that’s because we’re insane.”
—Mo Gawdat
“The question isn’t what AI will do. It’s who we become in response to what it does.””
—Steven Kotler
“One Tactic I’m Betting On
“Train your risk tolerance.
“Flow follows focus. And focus follows risk. This means if you want to future-proof your brain, you have to lean into deliberate discomfort. Cold plunges, hard conversations, creative stretch goals—whatever pushes the edge of your comfort zone. It’s not about being reckless. It’s about staying adaptable. In a world this fast, neuroplasticity is survival.”
“Blastoff
“It’s not humans versus AI. It’s us with AI—collaborating at warp speed. The machines aren’t waiting. They’re accelerating. And our only shot at keeping pace is to leverage states of consciousness built for speed.
”Flow is the only state that lets you match machine speed with human intuition—fast, focused, and adaptable.
”It’s neurobiology. And in a world this fast, it’s your edge.”
Reference:
Steven Kotler. AI Won’t Kill You. AI Will. Blastoff. A 3-2-1 Greatest Hits. Exploration of Flow Radio. Steven Kotler & Friends. Newsletter 31.7.2025.