Updated 16 August 2025 at 16:24 IST
AI Can Slow You Down If Misused: Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu Sounds Alarm on Over-Reliance
In an in-depth X post, Vembu shared his own AI usage and perceptions about its pros and cons. " I use AI chat tools daily, at least 2-3 sessions a day. So I would count myself as a moderate to heavy user," he shared, mentioning that he has the top five AI apps on his phone and he uses all of them.
Artificial Intelligence has evolved by leaps and bounds in the past few years. From rewriting the way we search for information to transforming the way companies do business, AI has turned into the go-to tool for everybody. But as the arguments about it get hotter - whether it is a boon or curse, a privacy threat, or even a force that might turn humans into "lazy thinkers" - Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu has offered a balanced but warning perspective.
In an in-depth X post, Vembu shared his own AI usage and perceptions about its pros and cons. " I use AI chat tools daily, at least 2-3 sessions a day. So I would count myself as a moderate to heavy user," he shared, mentioning that he has the top five AI apps on his phone and he uses all of them.
Vembu sees AI as a learning system and as a debating partner. He said his use of conventional web search has gone down by 80 per cent since AI enables him to learn faster. He even has various AI systems critique one another's responses, which, he says, increases his understanding.
But where Vembu gets cautious is when content development and coding are concerned. He suggests that AI will improve customer support experiences but cautions against mindless copy-pasting AI responses to customers. " It is unwise for a human to copy-paste AI text and send it to a customer, hiding the fact that it came from AI," he emphasised.
On the coding side, he noted that AI-generated code is still a long way from being ready to use. It requires human-sized checking for compliance, privacy, and security - a three-step task that is a must to eradicate any so-called productivity gain. Indeed, he says AI "may even slow us down" if coders rely on it without putting in the effort to review.
Rather, Vembu urges programmers to deploy AI primarily as a learning booster and idea companion - tools which expand our horizon of understanding and not accelerators that sacrifice quality.
" We continue to run a lot of experiments, and I will revise my opinion if and when facts change on the ground,” he concluded.
Vembu's viewpoint contributes to the increasing worldwide debate - just as AI can make us smarter, quicker, and more efficient, over-reliance or misuse, might as easily catch us out.
Published By : Priya Pathak
Published On: 16 August 2025 at 16:24 IST