In late 2025, artificial intelligence companies like OpenAI popularized the idea of automating the process of selecting which model is best for a task. This allowed users to simply send their prompt or request and let the system determine whether to respond using a “fast” or a “slow” reasoning model.
In a 2022 paper, I suggested that this kind of strategic deployment of slow, more reflective reasoning could be crucial to good judgment and decision-making. Since then, I have been synthesizing the arguments and evidence for this view in a paper titled, “Strategic Reflectivism in Intelligent Systems”.
Now that the new paper’s accepted in Lecture Notes In Computer Science, I recorded a podcast of me reading the final proofs of the paper, which argues that one key to intelligence in humans and machines is pragmatic switching between intuitive and reflective thinking based on the goals of the system. The paper has a wide range of implications for applied science, computer science, decision science, and epistemology.
As always, free preprints of my papers are available on my CV at byrdnick.com/cv under “Publications”.
This episode’s affiliate partner is Road Runner Sports. For about a year I’ve been adding a weekly marathon to my exercise routine. So shoes, socks, headphones, shorts, and other fitness products have felt more important to me lately. What I like about Road Runner Sports is their integration of online and in-store retail; I can try things on in person, deliver to the store for free, return and exchange in person, etc. I am not stuck doing everything online. To get your running needs met, check out roadrunnersports.sjv.io/byrdnick.
You can find the Upon Reflection podcast here or in your podcast app. If you like what you hear, you can subscribe wherever you find podcasts, follow on BlueSky at @ByrdNick.com, on Mastadon (@ByrdNick), and all the other platforms. If you end up enjoying the Upon Reflection podcast, then feel free to tell people about it, online, in person, or in your review.
Related posts
- The Bias Fallacy
- The Base Rate Fallacy
- The Appeal to Intuition: A Fallacy?
- Upon Reflection, Ep. 9: Bounded Reflectivism & Epistemic Identity
- 25+ Cognitive Science Podcasts
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