> I'm feeling a bit of cognitive decline having AI doing some/most of the thinking for me

> The solution? I'm not sure

This initially felt like you were setting up a joke. If you feel like something is harmful to you, stop doing it. Find alternatives (they are there, it’s everything else; commercial LLMs are still fairly recent). Thinking “maybe I don’t have to let it go, I can still use it if I do it this other way” sounds like an addict justifying themselves.

I say all this without a hint of judgment. I genuinely hope you are able to tackle the harm you’re feeling.