When my mom moves my things.
Or does my laundry and puts it away.
I have no memory of how the clothes got there. I can't remember when I last wore those pants - which is tied to knowledge and memory of:
Where I wore those pants - Indoors or Outdoors? - A shopping center or the woods? - An office or a grocery store?
Why did I wear those pants? - The weather? Was it normal for the time of year? - The deep pockets? - How sweaty I planned on being?
What did I even leave the house for? - A holiday? - A formal event? A job interview? Dinner with friends? - A hike? An outdoor job? A place considerably further from where I could park?
All of that is information that helps me remember events.
And when she puts my laundry away - yes, there's less visible clutter.
But I can't find anything.
I had a system of organization she doesn't know about.
Yes, basic categories include pants, shirts, long sleeve, sleeveless, shorts.
But she doesn't know what I categorize as hiking shorts vs casual shorts.
Office wear vs comfy wear vs outdoor job wear.
I have subcategories within the categories.
But the more of my work she does, the less I am able to do it on my own. The harder it is to find what I need, or even keep track of where I am in space and time.
When I held firm in not letting her touch my things and reorganized, I found clothes that were not mine. Clothes that I wanted to donate that were just thrown in with clothes I wear regularly. Sweatpants mixed in with dress pants. Blankets mixed in with pants??? Laundry was done and put away but I was in a worse place than if it was just registered as an incomplete task in my brain.
And I imagine that's what an over-reliance on AI would be like. The task itself is done, quicker than waiting until I got around to doing it. But at what cost?
It's not so much the actual end goal of the task that is beneficial to me - it's the little cues that come with doing the task itself.
A sense of how much time has passed, since I don't have clean work clothes anymore. - Time blindness.
Knowledge of how often I actually wear something. Or don't wear something at all and should get rid of it. -Out of sight, out of mind.
Memory of how those pants felt - Were they uncomfortable? Did they meet my needs for whatever occasion I wore them for? Were they uncomfortable because of my change in weight? Was it a new material I tried? These are only thoughts I have as I see or touch the item as I put it in the wash and while I am folding it. With my own hands.
If something has holes but is still by far, my most comfortable and safe item of clothing, should it be thrown out?
That's not for AI, or my mother, to decide.