The text explores the profound losses incurred when we habitually rely on AI, extending beyond cognitive impacts to the erosion of personal meaning. It argues that while AI offers undeniable speed and scale, it detaches us from the essential process of creating meaning in our work. This meaning, derived from deep connection to a project, is crucial for sustained engagement and professional fulfillment. The author illustrates this with an analogy of two brothers climbing a mountain, where the journey itself, not just the destination, holds the true value.Over-reliance on AI can lead to a sense of apathy, where professionals lose their "sparkle" and question their career paths, even leading some to leave the tech industry. This disengagement is not just professional but spills into personal life, as people increasingly turn to AI for tasks that traditionally fostered human connection and effort. The convenience offered by AI, while appealing, gradually drains our capacity for genuine accomplishment and learning.Furthermore, the text emphasizes that taking the "short route" via AI hinders our ability to learn, remember, and justify decisions because the work lacked personal meaning. True knowledge and mastery, like an actor memorizing lines, come from deeply understanding and experiencing the context, not just passively consuming information. AI's benchmarking, for instance, provides data without the essential human perspective or the lived experience of interaction.While acknowledging the pressures of deadlines and market demands, the author urges for discerning use of AI, emphasizing that it should be a means, not an end. Uncritical adoption risks transforming designers into mere operators, losing the essence of design as a decision-making process guided by meaning, repertoire, and experience. The journey of creation, with its inherent challenges and doubts, is what fosters true learning and lights the "sparkle" in our eyes, a sparkle worth protecting from the allure of ubiquitous convenience.