Better Thinking Through AI – 10 Strategies for Using AI to Improve Your Thinking

The world has spent the last year getting used to AI as a writing tool, a code assistant, a meeting summarizer. But AI’s real power may lie somewhere more subtle — and more profound: it can help us think better.

Thinking well is hard. It takes time, focus, and the kind of mental discipline that our busy workdays rarely allow. Much of the recent focus of AI has been on accelerating routine work, which should give us more time. It can do more than that, though. AI can be more than just a way to do more. You can use it to help think more clearly, more deeply, and more creatively.

This guide is the product of the Tools for Thought (opens in new tab) team at Microsoft Research, grounded in our research into how AI can enhance human cognition. Drawing on empirical studies, prototypes, and design principles, these strategies reflect our commitment to shaping AI that augments not just productivity, but the quality of thought itself.