How to Make Better Decisions in the Age of AI
Better decisions begin with knowing what matters to you. Discover how self-awareness, clear thinking, and responsible AI use can help you navigate choices without losing sight of your values.
Artificial intelligence can generate ideas, summarize information, compare options, and help us explore possibilities in seconds. Yet having more answers does not automatically make a decision easier—or make it the right one.
Think about the decisions you make every day. Some are small, such as organizing your schedule or choosing what to prioritize. Others affect your career, relationships, finances, or long-term direction. In each case, the information available to you is only part of the picture.
An insightful conversation published by UC Berkeley's Greater Good Magazine explores this challenge through an interview with decision-making expert Cheryl Strauss Einhorn. Its central message is relevant to anyone interested in personal growth: AI can support your thinking, but you still need to define the problem, recognize your values, and take responsibility for the decision.
Use AI to expand your perspective, not to replace your judgment.
You can make better decisions in the age of AI by identifying your goal before asking for advice, clarifying your personal values, gathering relevant evidence, considering other people's perspectives, questioning assumptions, and reviewing AI-generated answers before acting. The aim is not to collect the most information, but to make a thoughtful choice that fits your circumstances and priorities.
Know What Matters Before You Ask for Answers
When you face a difficult choice, your first instinct may be to search for advice or ask an AI tool to recommend the best option. Before doing that, pause and consider what you actually need.
Are you trying to save time, protect a relationship, develop a new skill, reduce stress, or create opportunities for the future? Two people can face the same situation and reasonably choose different paths because their circumstances and priorities are different.
The interview emphasizes that people need to bring their own values and context into conversations with AI. A system can respond to the information you provide, but it may not understand the personal responsibilities, relationships, and concerns that shape your real-life decision.
Growth exercise
Before asking anyone for advice, complete this sentence: "The most important thing I want to achieve through this decision is..."
That simple reflection gives your next step a clearer direction. Instead of asking for a universal answer, you can seek guidance that fits your actual needs.
A Strategic Pause Can Improve Your Thinking
AI makes it possible to move quickly from a question to a list of possible answers. That speed can be useful, but it can also encourage you to move forward before you have fully considered the situation.
In the interview, Einhorn uses the image of a cheetah to illustrate the value of slowing down. Although the animal is known for speed, its ability to decelerate and change direction is also important. The broader lesson is that effective problem-solving requires flexibility, not just momentum.
The same principle applies to personal growth. You do not have to accept the first recommendation, follow the most popular opinion, or choose the option that appears fastest. Sometimes you need space to recognize missing information, reconsider an assumption, or notice that your priorities have changed.
Speed helps you move forward. Reflection helps you choose where to go.
When a decision matters, create a little distance between receiving advice and acting on it. Review your options with a calmer mind and ask whether the recommendation addresses the real problem.
Define Success Before Comparing Your Options
One reason decisions become overwhelming is that we often begin comparing options before deciding what a successful outcome would look like.
Einhorn describes a useful approach called the vision of success. Instead of immediately asking which option is best, imagine looking back after making a good decision. What would need to have happened for you to feel satisfied with the result?
The interview illustrates this with a person planning a vacation. An AI tool can produce destination suggestions, hotel comparisons, activities, ratings, and prices. However, the volume of information can make the choice more confusing when the person has not defined what the trip should accomplish.
The goal becomes clearer when the person identifies the desired outcome: returning rested, spending quality time with family, staying within budget, and enjoying a meaningful experience. Those priorities provide a more useful basis for comparing destinations.
"Which option is the best?"
An open-ended search can produce endless alternatives without making your priorities clearer.
"Which option fits my goals?"
Defined priorities help narrow the search and make comparisons more meaningful.
Try this with a career decision, a personal project, or a new habit. Identify two or three conditions that matter most before exploring solutions. You can then ask AI to compare your options against those conditions rather than letting the tool define success for you.
More Information Does Not Always Mean Better Decisions
When you are uncertain, gathering more information feels productive. But if you keep adding options, opinions, and comparisons without a clear purpose, you can end up more confused than when you started.
The interview discusses this problem as analysis paralysis: having so much information to consider that moving toward a decision becomes difficult. AI can contribute to this problem when each new prompt generates another list of alternatives.
A better approach is to be selective. Decide what you need to know, identify the evidence that would meaningfully change your choice, and set reasonable boundaries around the search.
Einhorn also describes the AREA method, a framework for examining information and challenging assumptions. The interview explains its four parts:
Start with primary information
Look for original, direct information about the issue instead of relying exclusively on summaries or interpretations.
Consider other perspectives
Examine external viewpoints and relevant secondary sources to understand how others interpret the issue.
Explore widely and question yourself
Consider fresh ideas and less familiar perspectives, then examine your own assumptions and potential biases.
Bring the evidence together
Organize what you have learned, compare the competing considerations, and reach a reasoned conclusion.
The framework is not a guarantee of a perfect answer. Its value lies in giving you a more deliberate process for examining evidence, perspectives, and assumptions—including those reflected in AI-generated responses.
When you use AI, treat the response as something to evaluate, not something to accept automatically. Verify important factual claims against reliable original sources, especially when the decision carries significant consequences.
Self-awareness
Understand your priorities and thinking habits.
Evidence
Question claims and examine alternative viewpoints.
Human judgment
Consider values, relationships, and responsibilities.
Efficiency Is Not the Only Measure of a Good Decision
A recommendation can look excellent on paper and still overlook something that matters deeply to the people involved. Efficiency, convenience, and measurable outcomes are useful considerations, but they do not always capture the full human impact of a choice.
The interview offers an example involving a food scientist who uses AI to help allocate work among team members. The system suggests assignments based on workload and expertise. However, the scientist also understands individual motivations, development needs, and team relationships.
In the example, assigning an important test to a junior scientist could support that person's professional development, even though the AI recommendation favored a more experienced technician. The human decision-maker could consider both the immediate task and the longer-term growth of the team.
The lesson extends beyond the workplace. When making a decision, ask who else may be affected, which responsibilities matter, and whether the most efficient option is also the most appropriate.
Kindness, empathy, fairness, and responsibility are not details to consider only after choosing an option. They can be part of the criteria you use to define a good outcome from the beginning.
Learn to Understand Your Own Thinking
Self-awareness is not limited to knowing what you like or what you want. It also involves understanding how you reach conclusions, what information you prioritize, and which assumptions influence your choices.
This ability to reflect on your own thought processes is known as metacognition. In the interview, Einhorn suggests that working with AI creates an opportunity to examine how we think, rather than simply outsourcing difficult mental tasks.
For example, you may notice that you tend to focus on immediate benefits while overlooking long-term consequences. Perhaps you look for confirmation of what you already believe or become overwhelmed when presented with too many choices.
Recognizing these patterns gives you a chance to respond more deliberately. You can ask AI to challenge your assumptions, identify potential drawbacks, or present a reasonable opposing viewpoint. Then you can evaluate those perspectives yourself.
The more clearly you understand how you think, the more intentionally you can decide.
The goal is not to question every thought endlessly. It is to become more aware of your habits so you can recognize when a different approach may be useful. Over time, reflection can become a practical part of how you learn, solve problems, and communicate with others.
A Simple Decision-Making Routine to Try Today
The next time you face a meaningful choice, use these questions to guide your thinking before and after asking AI for help.
- Define the problem. What decision do you actually need to make?
- Identify your priorities. Which values, needs, and responsibilities matter most?
- Describe success. What would a good outcome look like in practice?
- Ask focused questions. Use AI to compare options, identify trade-offs, and explore alternative perspectives.
- Check the evidence. Verify important information and challenge unsupported assumptions.
- Consider the human impact. Think about relationships, fairness, and the people affected.
- Make your own judgment. Choose deliberately, knowing why the option fits your goals and circumstances.
A Reflection Prompt for Better Decisions
Instead of asking AI to make a decision for you, use a prompt that encourages structured thinking while keeping your values at the center.
"Help me think through this decision without making it for me. First, ask me about my goal, circumstances, values, and the people affected. Then help me identify the main options, compare their benefits and drawbacks, question my assumptions, and identify what information I still need to verify. Present alternative perspectives and explain the trade-offs. Do not assume that the fastest or most efficient option is automatically the best. Help me reach my own reasoned conclusion."
Add your specific situation after the prompt. Review the suggestions critically and avoid sharing confidential or sensitive personal information unnecessarily.
Key Ideas to Remember
Start with your own thinking. Understand the problem before asking AI for answers.
Define success in terms of your goals and circumstances, not a generic idea of the best outcome.
Slow down when necessary. More information and faster answers do not automatically produce better choices.
Challenge assumptions, check important facts, and consider perspectives beyond your own.
Include empathy, values, and human consequences when evaluating possible outcomes.
Use AI as a thinking partner while continuing to develop your own judgment and problem-solving skills.
Your Future Depends on More Than the Answers You Find
AI can help you explore possibilities, organize information, and recognize options you might otherwise overlook. But meaningful decisions require more than a convincing answer. They require an understanding of your goals, a willingness to question your assumptions, and an awareness of how your choices affect other people.
Personal growth begins when you become more intentional about the way you think. Pause when the situation calls for it. Define what matters. Examine the evidence. Listen to different perspectives. Then make a choice you can explain and take responsibility for.
Let technology expand your thinking, while you continue to develop the judgment that makes your decisions your own.
Further reading
This article is an original editorial adaptation inspired by the discussion in Greater Good Magazine.
Read “How to Make Better Decisions in the Age of AI” at Greater Good Magazine