For millennia, survival depended on physical strength. Our ancestors ploughed fields, carried water, and built shelters with their own hands. Over time, machines replaced muscle and work became easier, faster, more convenient. Yet this convenience introduced an unexpected problem. Without labour, our bodies grew weaker. So, in a twist of irony, humans invented gyms, spaces filled with weights that serve no purpose other than to be lifted. Treadmills that take us nowhere except back to square one. Stairmasters that climb to nothing. All to keep our bodies strong in a world that no longer demands strength.

Now, I wonder if the same pattern may be unfolding with our minds.

A convenience paradox

I can in a way see how Artificial Intelligence is doing for thinking what machines did for muscle. It plans our projects, writes our emails, summarises complex reports, and even drafts our research papers. For many knowledge workers, mental effort is no longer mandatory. If you want convenience, AI will gladly carry the load.

But here’s the paradox. While AI is transforming mental effort, it’s not eliminating it entirely. It’s changing its shape. The problem? Most of the current research frames this shift negatively, claiming AI makes us lazy, lowers cognitive demand, and erodes our critical thinking. But yet based on what I’ve seen (and have been shown by internet algorithms), very little explores what new kinds of mental effort might emerge when humans work alongside AI.

So, what happens when intellectual struggle becomes optional? If history has taught us anything, making effort optional comes at a cost. Without it, creativity may stagnate. Our collective ability to solve hard problems could weaken. And yet, not everyone agrees that’s a problem. Some people believe life is about living in the moment, not wrestling with ideas.

But for those of us who thrive on intellectual stimulation, this shift raises an intriguing question: where will we go to exercise our minds?

Universities as the Agora 2.0

Maybe the answer isn’t new at all. Maybe it’s ancient, even.

Think of Classical Greece, where the Agora served as a gathering place for dialogue, debate, and civic engagement. It wasn’t about consuming information; it was about challenging ideas in the company of others. What if universities take on this role in the future? Not just as credentialing institutions, but as spaces where people come to deliberately train their minds. Less about rote learning, more about intellectual resilience. Less about earning degrees, more about enduring discomfort in complex conversations. Imagine a university that feels more like a mental fitness club. No lectures, no passive consumption, just active engagement in deep thinking.

In some ways, this already exists. Conferences, hackathons, and debate societies offer glimpses of this model. People gather not for convenience, but for challenge. Not to get answers, but to sharpen the questions they ask.

Designing the intellectual gym

If gyms have treadmills for cardio and dumbbells for strength, what does the intellectual equivalent look like? I don’t know but I think this will be a great design project. Though for now:

• AI-resistant challenges that force original thought.
• Structured debates on pressing ethical dilemmas.
• Collaborative problem sprints with impossible constraints.
• Mental endurance training, where you sustain focus without shortcuts.
• AI as your personal trainer, adapting exercises to your cognitive goals.

Joining the intellectual gym would likely be voluntary, just like physical fitness today. We know the pattern. Once labour becomes optional, maintaining health, whether physical or mental, becomes a personal choice. Some will opt in because they value growth, creativity, and their future selves. Others will not. The risk? Mental agility could become a luxury, widening the gap between those who train and those who don’t.

But the opportunity is huge. Imagine clear, measurable strategies for improving creativity and critical thinking, with a return on investment as tangible as a fitness program. We’ve never had that before.

Where does this leave us?

We invented gyms to stop our bodies from going soft. Are we about to do the same for our minds?

When AI takes over the heavy lifting of thought, will we build spaces to bring intellectual strain back into our lives? And if so, what exercises would you want first?

Would you subscribe to a mental fitness club?