Competitive and Complementary Tools
Humans have always externalized thought onto tools, from the tally and the abacus to the map and, now, large language models. I model the agent, the tool, and the task as one dynamical system in which competence (what the user retains) and reliance (what the user outsources) co-evolve, and find that the outcome is bistable. Above a critical tool availability the competent state is destroyed and competence collapses toward a low dependent floor as the user outsources completely. Lowering availability does not reverse the collapse until a far lower threshold, so history of practice rather than the current tool fixes the state. Two users with the same present access can therefore occupy oppo...
| Authors | David C. Krakauer |
|---|---|
| Primary category | q-bio.NC |
| Published | 20 July 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 20 July 2026 |
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