We've become accustomed to having information at our fingertips. Anyone with access to a web router or hotspot can find an answer to literally any question they pose. But is it making us any smarter?
Ironically, this abundance of information has led many to think less, not more. Instead of actually working anything out in our heads, we tend to just “Google it.”
Fortunately, the rise of AI may be reversing this trend, creating what could be the dawn of a new Renaissance – one where thinking becomes cool again. AI could actually be issuing in a new renaissance of thought.
The Shift the Younger Generation Is Leading
For the past 30 years, we've been trained to believe that all answers already exist online. The internet consolidated the world's information into a "global consciousness" – a digital repository of everything humanity has recorded. Yet this abundance of information created an unintended consequence: people stopped thinking for themselves.
As I've observed in recent years, the internet age taught us that "there's already a guru" out there. Hustle culture became mainstream, with people constantly grinding to keep up with others who seem to have already figured everything out. This mentality leaves little space for introspection and original ideation.
When we believe all answers already exist, why bother developing our own?
This internet-driven mindset is increasingly at odds with how younger generations approach work and life. Millennials and Gen Z are pushing back against hustle culture, prioritizing purpose over profits, community over competition, and authenticity over advertising. They don't trust the existing system and seek something different – meaningful work that aligns with their values.
The disconnect between older business owners and younger employees or entrepreneurs has created tension in many industries. While established businesses often measure success purely in profit, younger generations seek purpose and balance.
This isn't just idealism – I've seen firsthand how purpose-driven businesses can thrive financially while maintaining better work-life balance.
AI: Liberation of Ideas
Into this landscape comes AI – not just as another tool, but as a catalyst for a new way of thinking. If the internet consolidated information, AI is now liberating it in ways that spark creative thinking rather than replacing it.
Through my work with business owners across generations, I've observed how AI can bridge the gap between ideation and innovation with minimal resistance.
We can explore ideas with AI, have them reflected back to us with new perspectives, and gain the confidence to turn those ideas into action. This is dramatically different from the typical process where good ideas get abandoned after a quick internet search shows someone else has already "done it better."
Consider what's happened in STEM fields, where AI has accelerated discovery exponentially. Google's AlphaFold, which recently won the Nobel Prize, mapped protein folding in hours instead of the thousand years it might have taken hundreds of scientists.
These advancements aren't just about efficiency – they're about unlocking human potential.
The Birth of a New Renaissance
The Renaissance period wasn't just about smart people creating great works – it was about the reintroduction of ancient philosophies following the intellectual constraints of the Dark Ages. Similarly, AI may be pulling us out of what could be considered an "intellectual Dark Age" created by the internet.
With AI, we're seeing a revival of questioning everything rather than passively consuming existing information. This technology encourages us to explore ideas independently, free from the constraints of "what's already been done." The result could be an explosion of innovation and fresh thinking.
This new Renaissance has profound implications for business. Companies that embrace AI to support purpose-driven work and creative thinking will likely outpace those still focused solely on efficiency metrics.
I've witnessed this with a millennial business owner who grew his lawn care and tree removal company from $3 million to $4 million in a year after adopting this approach – while spending less time working and more time thinking and exploring ideas with AI.
The Path Forward
For established business leaders, the challenge is learning to integrate AI in ways that support younger generations' values and work styles. This means using AI not just to increase productivity but to create more meaningful work environments where people can focus on client care, community impact, and purpose-driven missions.
For entrepreneurs and employees, AI offers unprecedented opportunities to explore ideas and innovate without the crushing weight of "keeping up with the Joneses." It's a technology that rewards original thinking and creates space for authentic connection.
As we navigate this transition, we have an opportunity to reshape how we work and think. The companies that thrive won't just be those that use AI to cut costs or increase efficiency – they'll be those that use it to liberate human potential and creativity.
Just as the Renaissance fundamentally changed how people saw themselves and their world, this AI-powered renaissance may be changing how we approach knowledge itself – moving us from consumers of information to active participants in its creation and evolution.
The result? A world where thinking becomes cool again – and where the most successful businesses are those that embrace this new paradigm of exploration and innovation.
As business leaders come to grips with this new reality, we expect more of them to outsource some of this work to companies like ours. Letting Redefining Business Intelligence do the heavy lifting, delivering insight out of huge datasets, will allow leaders to see the clear ROI before investing in new tools.
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