AI’s True Threat May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills — Here’s How to Stop It

The real risk of AI: Diminishing human cognition: As AI becomes more advanced and accessible, the true danger lies not in job loss but in the potential erosion of critical thinking skills and intellectual independence.

Over-reliance on AI conveniences: The ease with which AI can provide quick answers and solutions may lead to an over-dependence on technology, resulting in a decrease in our ability to think critically and independently:

• AI’s remarkable capabilities in automating tasks, creating content, and processing information at unprecedented speeds are leading to an increasing reliance on these tools.
• The cognitive abilities that set humans apart, such as critical thinking, common sense, intuition, and experience, require practice and attention span, which seem to be diminishing as we rely more on digital devices, apps, and AI tools.

AI adoption and talent gap: Companies are rapidly adopting AI technologies, but there is a significant skillset gap in the workforce:

• Gartner predicts that 75% of enterprises will operationalize AI by 2024, emphasizing the urgency of adopting and integrating these technologies.
• Deloitte reports a 68% skillset gap in AI talent, leading companies to prioritize AI up-skilling as their top priority.
• The World Economic Forum predicts that AI and automation will create 97 million new jobs by 2025 but also displace 85 million jobs.

Balancing technology and human cognition: To mitigate the risk of intellectual atrophy, it is essential to strike a balance between technology and our cognitive strengths:

• Leaders should engage employees in critical thinking activities such as problem-solving workshops, brainstorming sessions, and open discussions where diverse perspectives are valued.
• Fostering a growth mindset and encouraging the younger workforce to view challenges as opportunities for cognitive growth, rather than merely rewriting code, is crucial.
• Human-AI collaboration should be deployed to leverage the strengths of both humans and AI systems, with an emphasis on human characteristics such as judgment, intuition, and creativity in decision-making processes.

The importance of asking “WHY”: Always asking the critical question of “WHY” when assessing a solution or approach to a problem ensures that it has been thoroughly thought through and helps maintain our intellectual development.

Broader implications: While the democratization of AI is unstoppable, we must strive to use AI to enhance, rather than diminish, our intellectual development. As a society, we have already given up the ability to perform basic mental tasks due to the conveniences of technology. More than ever, we need to develop our human brains to distinguish us from AI and maintain our unique cognitive strengths.