Intentionality — the attitude one assumes when paying close attention to one’s present action — is an often overlooked source of fulfilment & quality in one’s daily activities.
Take writing software in an age of AI coding assistants. To channel work through intentionality is to regain architectural control. Higher order questions about our software arise: design, intended use, maintenance surface, minimalism. Such questions enable intentional planning; deliberate and careful chunking of work, much as a sculptor would carefully chunk out large pieces of rock, only to unearth a beautiful piece of art. As Phidias delegated portions of the Acropolis to his disciples, one’s plan can be carefully delegated to our agents, only to find a higher level of understanding and design in one’s results.
Higher order philosophical postures — such as intention — practiced through our daily actions, can let us channel quality, craftsmanship, design, and engineering into AI-assisted work, be it in software, hardware, design, the arts, or the humanities.