With great power comes great responsibility — and the responsibility not to deskill may fall squarely on your shoulders.
While your employer likely wants you using AI, they might not be preparing you for the atrophy of cognitive skills that can come with heavy use of the tech.
“There is existential risk of people deskilling themselves to the point of being unviable in the market,” David Martin, Boston Consulting Group’s global lead of people and organization, told Business Insider.
Your boss may already be taking notice. A June BCG study of over 70 global C-suite leaders revealed that half see critical skills actively eroding within their organizations.
Unfortunately, the skills fading fastest are the ones leaders say matter most to long-term performance, the report said. That includes problem framing, judgment, creative thinking, and solution evaluation.
Despite concerns, the research suggests most organizations aren’t stepping in to help. BCG found that only one in 10 companies has a concrete plan to address deskilling, while a third haven’t discussed it at all.
That leaves it up to employees to proactively protect their own skillsets. Martin, who also serves as managing director and senior partner at BCG, shared two habits that could weaken critical thinking — and what you should do to address this decay:
1. Relying on the AI summary
If you’re getting stumped by basic follow-up questions, you may be relying too much on AI.
Martin said it’s obvious when someone asked for an AI summary of a slide deck they were supposed to read, because they can’t answer any follow-up questions or get to that next level of detail about the material.
“It’s like they only know what the AI told them,” Martin said.
He said the strongest workers will still apply critical thinking to ask themselves follow-up questions, even if AI gives them an initial summary.
2. Using AI for core tasks
In a world where judgement and taste are top of mind for leaders, you may not want to outsource tasks that require strategy and expertise. Martin said that he can spot erosion among employees who are using AI not just for menial tasks like writing their emails, but also for the core of their business and content.
Martin said he wouldn’t discourage workers from using AI for core tasks, but cautioned against relying on AI output without applying their own level of scrutiny and critical thinking. Instead of simply accepting the output, workers should take on the role of adversary, asking themselves the questions they or others might have, Martin said.
“Assume that what you see is wrong or misinformed, and then play the other side of it,” Martin said. “Build a red team against what the AI says.”
Test yourself
To counter cognitive decay, Martin recommends taking a one-week intentional break from AI every quarter. The goal is simple: Prove to yourself that you can still execute your job at, or above, your usual level without a crutch.
Given AI’s promise of massive productivity gains, companies have a vested interest in balancing automated tasks with work that doesn’t involve the technology, Martin said.
“It can be dangerous if you rely on it too much,” Martin said. “So a break from it can be really helpful.”
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