---
id: "quote-intellectual-microwave"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ 3. Help your workforce harness the skills AI is unlikely to master"]
tags: ["metaphor", "generative-ai", "quality"]
related: ["concept-intellectual-microwave", "entity-chatgpt"]
speaker: "Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic"
speakers: ["Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic"]
quote: "Think of gen AI as the intellectual equivalent of the food industry, and ChatGPT and related tools as a kind of microwave for ideas."
sources: ["adoption"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-adoption"
originDay: 9
articleStem: "hbr-edu-36-team-collaborate-with-ai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2024/11/set-your-team-up-to-collaborate-with-ai-successfully"
sourceTitle: "Set Your Team Up to Collaborate with AI Successfully"
---
# Gen AI as an Intellectual Microwave

> "Think of gen AI as the intellectual equivalent of the food industry, and ChatGPT and related tools as a kind of microwave for ideas."
> — [[entity-tomas-chamorro-premuzic]]

A powerful metaphor explaining why raw AI output should not be the final product delivered in professional settings. It defines the [[concept-intellectual-microwave]] and sets up its counterpart, the [[concept-intellectual-slow-food]] movement. ([[entity-chatgpt-d36]] is the named example.)