In Part 1 of this series, I explored some of the emerging research around AI, cognitive effort and what can happen when technology begins doing more of our thinking for us.

But the more I thought about it, the less interested I became in the question: Is AI good or bad for us?

It feels too simple. Technology isn't going anywhere. And I certainly don't intend to stop using it.

The question I find much more interesting is: How do we use these tools while staying connected to our own attention, awareness and capacity to think?

And for me, this is where mindfulness has something valuable to offer. Not as an antidote to AI. Not as another way of telling ourselves we need to use technology perfectly. But as a practice of noticing how we are living within a world that is constantly asking for our attention.

So Many Things Are Asking for Our Attention

An email arrives, the phone lights up, a notification appears, we remember something we need to do, we open another tab, we check a message, we Google a question, And increasingly, when we don't know something, AI can give us an answer almost immediately.

None of these things is inherently bad.But together, they create a life in which our attention can move rapidly from one thing to another all day long.

I explored this more closely in my article Mindfulness at Work: Returning Attention in a Distracted Working Day, looking at distraction, multitasking, smartphones and the gentle practice of returning our attention to what matters.

Read Mindfulness at Work: Returning Attention in a Distracted Working Day

What strikes me is that the same conversation extends far beyond work. There are fewer moments in our lives where nothing is competing for our attention. And perhaps fewer moments where we simply sit with our own minds.

Meditation Gives Us Somewhere to Practise Attention

In a simple breath awareness meditation, we might bring our attention to the feeling of breathing. For a moment, we are there. Then the mind wanders. A thought, a memory, planning, a sound, something we need to do later, eventually, we notice that our attention has moved. And we come back. That is the practice. Not never becoming distracted. Noticing that we have become distracted and choosing to return. Again and again.

There is something about this that feels especially relevant now. We live in an environment where so many things are designed to capture our attention.

Meditation gives us a space to practise directing it ourselves.

The Small Pause Before We React

One of the things I value most about mindfulness is the pause it can create between an impulse and what we do next.

We might notice:

I want to pick up my phone.

I want to check that message.

I need an answer.

I don't like not knowing.

I want this uncomfortable feeling to go away.

The point isn't to judge the impulse. It is simply to notice it. And sometimes, in that noticing, there is a little more choice. That same pause can exist in our relationship with AI. Before automatically asking: Can AI think about this for me? perhaps occasionally we can ask: Could I think about this first and then let AI help me think? It is a tiny shift. But I think it matters.

Learning to Stay With “I Don't Know”

Meditation also gives us practice being with something modern life doesn't always encourage: not knowing. We like certainty. We like solutions. We like closure.

And now answers can arrive extraordinarily quickly. But sometimes an idea needs space. Sometimes a decision needs reflection. Sometimes our first response isn't our deepest response. And sometimes there simply isn't an immediate answer.

Mindfulness can help us notice the discomfort of uncertainty without automatically needing to make it disappear. Perhaps there is value in allowing the mind a little room to wonder.

Awareness of Our Own Thinking

Meditation isn't about getting rid of thoughts. It is about becoming more aware of them. Over time, we may begin to notice: the assumptions we make, the stories we repeat, the reactions that arise automatically, and the moments when we have become completely carried away by our thinking.

This awareness of our own mental processes is related to what psychologists call metacognition.

And I wonder whether this capacity becomes even more valuable as technology becomes increasingly capable of generating ideas and information for us.

AI can give us an answer. But we still need to ask:

Does this make sense?

Is this accurate?

Do I agree?

What might be missing?

What do I think?

There is an important difference between having information and having awareness.

“Think for Me” or “Help Me Think”?

This is the idea I keep returning to. Think for me versus Help me think.

Perhaps mindful use of AI isn't about limiting technology for the sake of it. It is about remaining an active participant. Bringing our own thoughts first when that matters. Using AI to explore another perspective. Allowing it to make some tasks easier. But also recognising that there are skills we may still want to practise ourselves. Attention. Curiosity. Discernment. Reflection. Creativity. Being able to sit with something that isn't immediately resolved.

Not Everything in Life Needs to Be Optimised

So much of modern technology is designed to make life faster. More efficient. More productive. Less effortful. And there is enormous value in that. But not everything meaningful in life is efficient.

Listening deeply to another person isn't efficient. Being present with someone we love isn't efficient. Sitting quietly with an emotion isn't efficient. Watching the sunset isn't efficient. Reflecting on what really matters to us isn't efficient.

Meditation isn't particularly efficient either. For a little while, there is nothing we need to produce. Nothing we need to answer. Nowhere else we need to be. Perhaps that is part of its value.

Creating Balance in a World That Constantly Pulls at Us

I don't think we need to choose between technology and mindfulness. Perhaps we need both. Tools that make aspects of life easier. And practices that remind us how to stay connected to ourselves within it.

There are so many things competing for our attention each day - screens, work, responsibilities, information, notifications and the constant possibility of something else to look at or solve.

Meditation offers a little space away from some of that. Not to escape life. But to practise some of the other capacities we need for a balanced life. To pay attention deliberately. To notice what is happening in the body. To observe our own thoughts. To sit with uncertainty. To rest. To be curious. To be present with another person. And sometimes simply to be somewhere without needing to achieve anything at all.

A Gentle Invitation to Step Away for a While

If life feels full of things competing for your attention, you might give yourself permission to create a little space away from them.

At State of Harmony in Glen Iris, our meditation classes and meditation and sound experiences offer an opportunity to step away from the constant input of everyday life and practise coming back to yourself.

Not because phones, technology or AI are bad. But because balance matters.

We can embrace the tools that make our lives easier while also creating time to practise the very human capacities that help us experience our lives more fully - awareness, attention, curiosity, reflection, connection and presence.

Perhaps we don't need less technology. Perhaps we simply need moments where technology isn't asking anything of us. A space to pause. To breathe. To notice. And to come back. Because AI can give us answers. Mindfulness helps us stay connected to the person asking the question.

If you'd like some space away from the things continually competing for your attention, you're warmly welcome to explore our meditation classes and upcoming meditation and sound experiences at State of Harmony.

Explore meditation at State of Harmony‍

View upcoming meditation and sound experiences

With warmth and gratitude,

Sithara‍ ‍

- Mindfulness at Work: Returning Attention in a Distracted Working Day
  A deeper look at distraction, multitasking and the practice of gently bringing attention back to what matters.
  Read the article‍
- What Is Mindfulness? A Gentle Introduction to the Practice of Presence in Glen Iris, Melbourne
  An introduction to mindfulness as a practice of awareness, curiosity and returning to present-moment experience.
  Read What Is Mindfulness?‍
Harvard Gazette — Is AI Dulling Our Minds?
Perspectives from Harvard academics on AI, learning, critical thinking and the importance of remaining actively engaged in the learning process.
Read the Harvard Gazette article‍ ‍
MIT Media Lab — AI and the Brain
MIT Media Lab's ongoing work exploring how interactions with AI relate to attention, memory, engagement and other cognitive states.
Explore the research‍
ABC Radio National, All in the Mind — Is AI Making Our Brains Lazier?
Professor Joel Pearson discusses cognitive offloading, uncertainty, adaptability and maintaining human cognitive abilities in the age of AI.
Listen to the episode
‍State of Harmony — Mindfulness at Work: Returning Attention in a Distracted Working Day
Further reading on focused-attention meditation, mind wandering, distraction, executive functioning and the practice of returning attention.
Read the State of Harmony article‍