Memorizing facts is becoming less important than knowing how to ask the right questions and evaluate AI-generated responses. Yet this same technology that can accelerate learning also risks creating dependency if we don’t learn to leverage it strategically.

Unfortunately, there’s a growing subfield of psychology research pointing to

cognitive atrophy

from too much AI usage.

Evidence includes a new paper published by a cohort of researchers at Microsoft (not exactly a group predisposed to finding evidence for brain drain). Yet they do indeed see the effect in the critical thinking of knowledge workers... See more

Knowledge workers who have confidence in AI have a tendency to accept its output without thinking about it. Over time, these workers might lose the capacity to think critically about low-risk, routine AI uses through lack of practice. This notion might be summarized in the not-so-poetic line “use it or lose it.” It appears to be the reason... See more