In Episode 10 of Train.Brain.Daily, the final episode of the first series, Morry Morgan and Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson, better known as Hewi, explore one of the most important questions of the AI era: are we giving artificial intelligence genuinely useful prompts, or simply feeding it garbage?
Hewi introduces the “cognitive cockpit”, the small prompt box where human intelligence meets artificial intelligence. Although AI has access to an extraordinary amount of information, its usefulness still depends heavily on the expertise, curiosity and critical thinking of the person directing it. As the old computing principle warned, “garbage in, garbage out”. Today, however, AI can transform weak thinking into beautifully presented garbage.
Morry and Hewi discuss why AI should be treated as an assistant, student or orchestra, rather than a magic lamp. The human must conduct the process, question the first response, request improvements and continue the conversation until the result becomes genuinely useful. Like writing, graphic design or stand-up comedy, the first draft is rarely the finished product.
Morry shares how Anthony Littlechild, one of his co-hosts on This Week in Comedy, challenges ChatGPT when it claims it cannot complete a task. Rather than accepting the initial answer, Anthony questions the AI and encourages it to look again. This approach resembles an effective teacher pushing a student to explain, investigate and improve their response.
The pair demonstrate how the Good, Bad, Better, or GBB, thinking system can strengthen interactions with AI. By asking for ten good points, ten bad points and ten ways something could be better, users can challenge assumptions, identify weaknesses and uncover possibilities they might otherwise overlook. The “better” ideas can then be examined further by identifying the broader concept behind them and generating new applications.
The conversation also explores the danger of AI-generated content becoming repetitive and indistinguishable. From robotic podcasts to increasingly similar comedy posters, AI can create a feedback loop in which machines reproduce versions of their own output. This makes fresh human knowledge, humour, judgement and creativity even more valuable.
Hewi explains the three qualities that help ideas survive and spread: fidelity, fecundity and longevity. His memorable phrase “neck-top computer” provides a perfect example.
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