Kevin Roose
Technology journalist and author covering AI and the labs building it, and a former New York Times technology columnist.
“Weightlifting tasks are tasks where the struggle is part of the benefit. It would be a total waste of time to bring a forklift into the gym and have it lift weights for you. By the same token, I don't think it makes sense to swear off forklifts, because for some tasks you're just trying to move a thing from point A to point B and it's really heavy. It's really important not to get them mixed up, because if you do, you use the forklift to lift your weights. You don't get any stronger, and you end up lugging around heavy pallets you don't need to be lugging around.”
AI & I · AI Builders · November 2026
Context
Roose is asked to explain his framework for deciding which tasks to hand to AI. He splits everyday work into tasks where struggle builds skill and tasks where the goal is only to get the result moved along.
Transcript
…like messed up parasocial relationship with him. But yeah, I watch a lot of YouTube. I really want to understand that platform. And I feel like I can do it, but I just need to like put in the hours because, you know, it's not, it's not my natural place, but I feel really drawn to it as a platform.
…in your use of AI, or you were speaking about how in your use of AI, when you're delineating how you're using AI and how you think about it, sometimes you think about it as weightlifting tasks and tasks that require a hard fork, a fork, a forklift. Wow. This is my ESL moment. Could you? A lot of
forks in my life. Yes. Lots of forks. Yes. Weightlifting and forklifting are the two categories of tasks that I think we do every day. Weightlifting tasks are tasks, in my mind, where the struggle is part of the benefit, right? Where you don't actually grow or learn or challenge yourself unless you are struggling, right? In the same way that it would be a total waste of time to bring a forklift into the gym and have it lift weights for you. Like you're not getting any better. The forklift is not getting any better. It's a total mismatch of tool and method. By the same token, I don't think it makes a lot of sense to swear off forklifts because for some tasks, you're trying to move a thing from point A to point B and it's really heavy. And if you have a tool that can shortcut that and make it simpler and increase your productivity, like you should do that. So I think that most tasks we do can be sorted into one of these two categories, forklifting or weightlifting. And I think it's really important not to get them mixed up because if you do, you end up using the forklift to lift your weights. You don't get any stronger and you end up like lugging around these heavy palettes that you don't need to be lugging around. That's not making you any better. It's just, you know, hurting you. So I think that's, that's how I've organized things in my
mind. And what are you currently weightlifting? And what are you currently allowing the forklift to do?
I am currently weightlifting parenting because this is an area like I know there are all kinds of AI-pilled parents out there who are like, I use AI to read my kids' bedtime stories or, you know, whatever. But like to me, that is total weightlifting in the sense that not only is it like, like, I…
Yeah, fair enough. Well, Kevin, it's such a pleasure to speak with you. Thank you so much for writing this book. And we are so excited to see you at thesis. What is your thesis for the future?
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