Interesting perspective. I read your first line about phone numbers as a fantastic thing -- people used to have to memorize multiple 10 digit phone numbers, now you can think about your contacts' names and relationships.
But... I think you were actually bemoaning the shift from numbers to names as a loss?
Have you not run into trouble when your phone is dead but you have to contact someone? I have, it's frustrating. Thankfully I remember my partners number, though its the only one these days.
These things are not mutually exclusive. Remembering numbers didn't hinder our ability to remember our contacts' names.
We don't know how brain exactly works, but I don't think we can now do some things better just because we are not using another function of our brains anymore.
(not op) for me its a matter of dependency. great, as long as i have my phone I can just ask siri to call my sister, but if I need to use someone else's phone because mines lost or dead, well, how am I going to do that?
Same as AI. Cool it makes you 5x as efficient at your job. But after a decade of using it, can you got back to 1x efficiency without it? Or are you just making the highly optimistic leap that you will retain access to the tech in perpetuity.
But... I think you were actually bemoaning the shift from numbers to names as a loss?