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# AI is Making Us Smarter—Or Just Better at Skimming?
- URL: https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/ai-is-making-us-smarter-or-just-better-at-skimming/
- Published: 2025-02-20T09:55:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-27T05:24:38.000Z
- Description: If AI keeps thinking for us, will we forget how? Generative AI is reshaping knowledge work, but not in the way we hoped.
- Author: Dr Mark van Rijmenam, CSP
- Tags: News, #seo-post-1

If AI keeps thinking for us, will we forget how? [Generative AI](https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/generative-ai-speaker/) is reshaping knowledge work, but not in the way we hoped.

A joint study from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University reveals that AI isn’t turning workers into superhumans. It’s making them supervisors of machines.

With 319 professionals surveyed and 936 real-world AI use cases analyzed, the study found that workers increasingly verify AI-generated content rather than thinking critically themselves.

Instead of solving problems, they tweak AI outputs, shifting from creation to curation. Worse, those with higher confidence in AI tend to question it less, outsourcing their judgment along with their workload.

If AI is dulling human cognition, how do we keep our minds sharp? Should companies rethink AI integration to encourage, not replace, critical thinking?

Read the full article on [Microsoft](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/the-impact-of-generative-ai-on-critical-thinking-self-reported-reductions-in-cognitive-effort-and-confidence-effects-from-a-survey-of-knowledge-workers/?ref=thedigitalspeaker.com).

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