alt Hacker NewsI don't know if I agree with the premise that having access to AI results in dulling human intellect.
I feel like to get to Terry's level you need a combination of passion and aptitude for the subject. People that don't want to learn about a topic will always look for shortcuts, which I think represents the vast majority of people. Terry Tao is quite exceptional, and I think exceptional people will still exist even when the "easy" button is bigger than it's ever been.
The problem is that learning never stops. You can't just go through school, become a junior in X field, then start using AI. Then you'll forever be a junior. You have to make a choice when you're working a job: either use AI-first workflows to increase your productivity, or don't and increase your knowledge and skill.
My wording is specific. You can use AI and increase knowledge and skill, but this requires you to be driving the AI at such a low level you don't get the full speedup. As an example, you can write code yourself with AI as an assistant, but it's not as fast as AI writing everything.
So now we end up stuck in a situation where every professional needs to choose between long term skill growth or speed, as anyone who's worked a job before knows, speed will always be the one chosen.