In Praise of Slow AI: Why the Lag is an Unexpected Gift for Productivity
The race is on. Every week, it seems AI providers announce new models that are faster, more responsive, and closer to “real-time” interaction. The industry’s primary focus is on eliminating latency and making AI seamless.
And yet, recent studies have begun to question the universal benefit of this speed. One notable analysis found that for expert programmers, using AI tools actually decreased their efficiency. This raises a fascinating question: is our relentless pursuit of speed overlooking a hidden advantage?
I’m going to argue that it is. In fact, I believe the current “thinking time” of AI is one of its most valuable, and overlooked, features.
The Modern Trap of Non-Stop Work
Our professional lives are often a barrage of back-to-back meetings, constant context-switching, and an ever-present pressure to be visibly “doing.” The prevailing culture suggests that if you are not actively typing, talking, or clicking, you are not being productive. This leaves almost no room for the quiet, reflective thinking that true problem-solving requires.
Deep work has become a luxury few can afford.
Finding Mental Space in the Machine’s Pause
This is where I’ve found an unexpected bonus: in the few seconds it takes for an AI to process my request. While I wait for a block of code to be generated, a paragraph to be drafted, or a dataset to be analysed, my mind is granted a precious, enforced pause.
This isn’t dead time. It’s found time.
In these moments, my brain is free to operate on a different level. It’s not focused on the immediate task of typing, and it is free to think around the problem.
-
I anticipate the next step in my project.
-
I question the premise of my initial request.
-
Something completely unrelated bubbles up from my subconscious.
It is in these micro-pauses that I have had some of my most significant brainwaves. The AI’s latency has become a generator for my own creativity and strategic thinking, allowing me to dedicate more of my focus to proactive, forward-looking work.
Turning Latency into a Strategy
I have started to lean into this intentionally.
Admitedly, I sometimes run prompts in parallel across several AI models, creating a small pipeline of work. While one model “thinks,” I am reviewing the output from another.
However, more and more I’m consciously “waiting,” using that space to plan and ideate.
The number of useful, tangential ideas this has generated has meant I have needed to adopt a new note-taking system (I am currently trialling Notion) just to keep track of them. The AI is doing the tactical work, and its processing time is giving me the space to do the strategic work. And if you’re looking for what to do with that reclaimed creative energy, consider swapping the infinite scroll for the infinite prompt — using AI time for creation rather than consumption.
The Leadership Opportunity in ‘Proactive Time’
As AI tools make our teams more efficient, we as leaders face a critical choice. One path is to simply increase output targets or reduce headcount, chasing short-term productivity gains.
A far more powerful path, however, is to reinvest that reclaimed time into our people. We can champion the creation of ‘proactive time’ as a dedicated space for the innovation and deep strategic thinking that drives long-term value. For junior or early-career members of our teams, this can be channelled into proactive training and personnel development. The true promise of AI in the workplace isn’t just accelerated execution, but elevated human insight.
Let’s Not Optimise Away Our Thinking Time
As AI developers strive to shave milliseconds off response times, I hope they consider what might be lost. Perhaps the future isn’t just about instantaneous answers. Perhaps it is also about designing technology that intentionally creates space for human reflection.
Instead of demanding ever-faster machines, maybe we should learn to better use the pauses they grant us.
What do you think? Have you found creative value in the AI’s “thinking time”?