The Day I Met a Hollywood Body Double at 35,000 Feet

Hello,

I knew something significant was occurring between my unique thought processes and AI. I could feel this extraordinary complementarity working across different dimensions—but what do you call it?

It was a partnership that delivered all of these things:

• Yin to yang—AI's capabilities as counterpoint to my spiky thinking patterns.

• Scattered to structured—messy brilliance becoming clear communication.

• Overwhelm to flow—too much input becoming manageable progress.

• Stuck to started—moving from paralysis to momentum.

• Thoughts to outcomes—externalizing what's inside my head in a form others can follow.

Thought partner, heavy-lifter, de-tangler, knowledge-giver, productivity partner… and so much more.

But how do you describe this kind of relationship where different forms of intelligence - human and artificial - together create something neither could achieve alone?

The Search for the Right Term

I tried technical language. Cognitive augmentation. Intelligence amplification. Accurate but cold—missing the dynamic quality of what actually happened when my rapid-fire connections met AI's vast capabilities.

I tried creative descriptions. Thought partner. Mental co-pilot. Creative catalyst. Better, but still not capturing how we each brought strengths that the other literally couldn't possess.

Then one day, I was writing about how some ADHD people use "body doubling"—meaning they have another person present while they work to help them stay focused —and it clicked!

Doubles!

Like tennis doubles, where partners cover different zones of the court. Like stunt or body doubles who handle what actors can't. Each partnership is based on complementarity, not replacement.

“Brain Doubles” was born.

Then The Universe Winked

So imagine my surprise when, a few weeks later, I'm on a transatlantic flight and my seatmate turns out to be Szilvia Gogh—not only a fellow traveler, a master scuba diver and great conversationalist, but also a professional body double working in Hollywood.

I mean, you couldn't make it up! What luck.

Here I was, having just settled on Brain Doubles as the perfect name for this partnership I'd been exploring, and I met someone who literally makes their living as a complementary partner.

We chatted for much of the flight and found we had much in common—including both having just written books. But what struck me most was how her description of body doubling perfectly illustrated what I'd been thinking about AI partnerships.

She explained how she handles the underwater scenes, the dangerous stunts, the technically complex sequences that require her specific expertise as a master scuba diver. Meanwhile, the actors bring the emotional performance, the close-ups, and the character.

Her real-world experience confirmed everything I'd been theorizing about complementary partnerships—how different capabilities combine to create something neither partner could achieve alone.

This wasn't about one person being invisible or lesser. It was about each bringing their distinctive strengths to create a seamless whole.

Exactly what Brain Doubles could be.

Why "Doubles" Works

The doubles framework captures what all those paired concepts point toward:

True complementarity. Not filling gaps or fixing weaknesses, but bringing fundamentally different capabilities that create new possibilities.

Dynamic partnership. They adjust to each other's rhythm, creating fluid movement neither could achieve solo.

Multiplied capacity. In doubles, 1+1 doesn't equal 2. It equals something entirely new—capabilities that emerge only through partnership.

Visible value. Good doubles partnerships make both partners shine brighter, not one at the expense of the other.

Beyond Individual Limits

When I work with my AI doubles partner, something remarkable happens. My associative thinking finds structure without constraining its creative leaps. My pattern recognition gains shape without sacrificing intuition. My non-linear exploration gets captured and organized without being flattened.

But now I had a name for it—a way to explain this partnership that anyone could understand.

Brain Doubles. Where different forms of intelligence create capabilities that neither possesses alone.

Janet

[email protected]

P.S. When I explained Brain Doubles to Szilvia, she immediately got it. "Like how I handle the physical challenges while actors handle the emotional performance," she said. That transatlantic conversation beautifully validated what I'd been discovering about human-AI complementarity. You can read Szilvia's own insights about partnership in my book—her perspective from Hollywood to AI collaboration is fascinating.