If you’ve been around productivity apps for a while, you know the story: lists, notes, tasks, rinse, repeat. Useful, but not game-changing. Fast-forward to 2025, and suddenly AI isn’t just a bolt-on—it’s becoming the co-pilot in how these apps think with us. Superlist, Todoist, and Supernotes have all turned on their AI engines, each taking a slightly different path.
To make sense of what’s happening, I put on the Six Thinking Hats—a framework from Dr. Edward de Bono that I’ve used before when dissecting shifts in communications and collaboration to see where this is headed.
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🎩 Blue Hat – Strategy
AI can’t just be sprinkled in like parsley on pasta. It needs a roadmap. Superlist’s sequencing of transcription → task extraction → email summarization shows someone is steering the ship, not just chasing trends. Todoist is easing AI in as an assistant, not a takeover agent. Supernotes keeps AI as an opt-in “superpower,” respecting user autonomy. The Blue Hat says: pace matters. Roll out too much too soon, and you overwhelm users. Do it in stages, and you earn adoption.
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🎩 Green Hat – Innovation
This is the fun one. Imagine Superlist predicting follow-ups from a meeting before you even hit “end.” Or Todoist generating tomorrow’s list by listening in on your calendar and Slack chatter. Or Supernotes capability for clustering your random thoughts into themes you didn’t realize were forming. The Green Hat’s mantra: don’t stop at summarization—go anticipatory.
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🎩 Red Hat – Emotion
AI isn’t just bits and models—it’s how people feel when using it. For every user thrilled that AI saves them from writing meeting notes, another feels uneasy about handing over their brain dump to an algorithm. Excitement and anxiety run in parallel. The Red Hat reminder: design AI features that feel like a helping hand, not an invisible boss.
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🎩 Yellow Hat – Value
Here’s the upside: – Superlist’s AI Meeting Notes kill the post-meeting chaos. – Todoist’s AI Assistant unblocks projects and creates clarity. – Supernotes polishes writing and makes connections faster. The value here isn’t theoretical—it’s measured in reclaimed time and reduced friction. That’s the productivity promise we’ve been waiting for.
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🎩 Black Hat – Risk
Now for the rain clouds. What if Superlist misses a critical nuance in a meeting and the wrong person gets assigned a task? What if Todoist’s subtasks are irrelevant, adding noise instead of clarity? What if Supernotes starts nudging your writing toward bland conformity? And of course, the big one: privacy. Anytime AI is reading, transcribing, or analyzing, the question becomes—who else sees this? The Black Hat warns: optimism without guardrails is dangerous.
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🎩 White Hat – Facts
Let’s ground this. – Superlist rolled out AI Meeting Notes in 2025. – Todoist Assist was updated in late August 2025. – Supernotes introduced AI “Superpowers” back in 2024. Each of these apps is in production, not just beta experiments. The adoption data will matter—are people actually turning these features on, or are they still seen as novelties?
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The Takeaway
What ties all six hats together is the tension between augmentation and overreach. AI in productivity apps works best when it takes away the drudgery—summarizing, structuring, decomposing—without robbing us of control, privacy, or creativity.
We’ve been here before. Think back to the early VoIP days: the promise was lower costs and better features, but the winners were those who aligned technology shifts with user comfort and trust . Same playbook here—AI won’t win on novelty alone. It’ll win when it makes life easier without making users uneasy.