{"id":1163790,"date":"2026-03-13T11:38:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T18:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-research-item&#038;p=1163790"},"modified":"2026-03-13T11:38:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T18:38:52","slug":"better-thinking-through-ai-10-strategies-for-using-ai-to-improve-your-thinking","status":"publish","type":"msr-research-item","link":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/publication\/better-thinking-through-ai-10-strategies-for-using-ai-to-improve-your-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Better Thinking Through AI &#8211; 10 Strategies for Using AI to Improve Your Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intro-text fade-in visible\" data-delay=\"0\">\n<p class=\"lead\">The world has spent the last year getting used to AI as a writing tool, a code assistant, a meeting summarizer. But AI&#8217;s real power may lie somewhere more subtle \u2014 and more profound: it can help us think better.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"intro-text fade-in visible\" data-delay=\"200\">\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"intro-text fade-in visible\" data-delay=\"400\">\n<p>This guide is the product of the\u00a0<a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" href=\"https:\/\/aka.ms\/toolsforthought\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tools for Thought<span class=\"sr-only\"> (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>\u00a0team 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world has spent the last year getting used to AI as a writing tool, a code assistant, a meeting summarizer. But AI&#8217;s real power may lie somewhere more subtle \u2014 and more profound: it can help us think better. Thinking well is hard. It takes time, focus, and the kind of mental discipline that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","msr-author-ordering":[{"type":"user_nicename","value":"Richard Banks","user_id":"33361"},{"type":"user_nicename","value":"Sean Rintel","user_id":"33579"}],"msr_publishername":"","msr_publisher_other":"","msr_booktitle":"","msr_chapter":"","msr_edition":"","msr_editors":"","msr_how_published":"","msr_isbn":"","msr_issue":"","msr_journal":"","msr_number":"","msr_organization":"","msr_pages_string":"","msr_page_range_start":"","msr_page_range_end":"","msr_series":"","msr_volume":"","msr_copyright":"","msr_conference_name":"","msr_doi":"","msr_arxiv_id":"","msr_s2_paper_id":"","msr_mag_id":"","msr_pubmed_id":"","msr_other_authors":"","msr_other_contributors":"","msr_speaker":"","msr_award":"","msr_affiliation":"","msr_institution":"","msr_host":"","msr_version":"","msr_duration":"","msr_original_fields_of_study":"","msr_release_tracker_id":"","msr_s2_match_type":"","msr_citation_count_updated":"","msr_published_date":"2026-3","msr_highlight_text":"","msr_notes":"","msr_longbiography":"","msr_publicationurl":"","msr_external_url":"","msr_secondary_video_url":"","msr_conference_url":"","msr_journal_url":"","msr_s2_pdf_url":"","msr_year":0,"msr_citation_count":0,"msr_influential_citations":0,"msr_reference_count":0,"msr_s2_match_confidence":0,"msr_microsoftintellectualproperty":true,"msr_s2_open_access":false,"msr_s2_author_ids":[],"msr_pub_ids":[],"msr_hide_image_in_river":null,"footnotes":""},"msr-research-highlight":[],"research-area":[13554],"msr-publication-type":[193724],"msr-publisher":[],"msr-focus-area":[],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-post-option":[269148,269142],"msr-field-of-study":[258421],"msr-conference":[],"msr-journal":[],"msr-impact-theme":[],"msr-pillar":[],"class_list":["post-1163790","msr-research-item","type-msr-research-item","status-publish","hentry","msr-research-area-human-computer-interaction","msr-locale-en_us","msr-post-option-approved-for-river","msr-post-option-include-in-river","msr-field-of-study-responsible-ai"],"msr_publishername":"","msr_edition":"","msr_affiliation":"","msr_published_date":"2026-3","msr_host":"","msr_duration":"","msr_version":"","msr_speaker":"","msr_other_contributors":"","msr_booktitle":"","msr_pages_string":"","msr_chapter":"","msr_isbn":"","msr_journal":"","msr_volume":"","msr_number":"","msr_editors":"","msr_series":"","msr_issue":"","msr_organization":"","msr_how_published":"","msr_notes":"","msr_highlight_text":"","msr_release_tracker_id":"","msr_original_fields_of_study":"","msr_download_urls":"","msr_external_url":"","msr_secondary_video_url":"","msr_longbiography":"","msr_microsoftintellectualproperty":1,"msr_main_download":"","msr_publicationurl":"","msr_doi":"","msr_publication_uploader":[{"type":"file","viewUrl":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10-Strategies-Handout.pdf","id":"1163792","title":"10-strategies-handout-2","label_id":"243109","label":0}],"msr_related_uploader":"","msr_citation_count":0,"msr_citation_count_updated":"","msr_s2_paper_id":"","msr_influential_citations":0,"msr_reference_count":0,"msr_arxiv_id":"","msr_s2_author_ids":[],"msr_s2_open_access":false,"msr_s2_pdf_url":null,"msr_attachments":[{"id":1163792,"url":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10-Strategies-Handout.pdf"}],"msr-author-ordering":[{"type":"user_nicename","value":"Richard Banks","user_id":33361,"rest_url":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/microsoft-research\/v1\/researchers?person=Richard Banks"},{"type":"user_nicename","value":"Sean Rintel","user_id":33579,"rest_url":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/microsoft-research\/v1\/researchers?person=Sean Rintel"}],"msr_impact_theme":[],"msr_research_lab":[199561],"msr_event":[],"msr_group":[1142579],"msr_project":[1053711],"publication":[],"video":[],"msr-tool":[],"msr_publication_type":"miscellaneous","related_content":{"projects":[{"ID":1053711,"post_title":"Tools for Thought","post_name":"tools-for-thought","post_type":"msr-project","post_date":"2024-07-03 05:21:39","post_modified":"2026-04-26 18:27:28","post_status":"publish","permalink":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/project\/tools-for-thought\/","post_excerpt":"Better thinking through AIA People-Centric AI Project \"What would you rather have: a tool that thinks for you, or a tool that makes you think?\" Senior Researcher Advait Sarkar presented at TEDAI (opens in new tab) in Vienna on September 26th 2025. \u00a9 TEDAI Vienna \/ Robert Leslie Many AI tools focus on solving specific tasks like content generation or process automation. 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