Microsoft Says Workers are Already Using AI to Lighten Workloads, at Risk to Their Own Brainpower

Eccentric science-fiction author and technophile Douglas Adams once wrote about how tech was taking an effort-saving role in people’s lives: “Dishwashers washed tedious dishes for you, thus saving you the bother of washing them yourself,” he explained, and “video recorders watched tedious television for you” for much the same reason. But we’re in the AI era now, and a new Microsoft study suggests that Adams’s metaphor still applies: AI is able to take on much of that “tedious thinking” for you, saving you all the bother of actually working while at work. The new study actually warns that some knowledge workers are risking becoming overly reliant on generative AI, and their “problem-solving skills may decline as a result,” technology news site The Register says. The study acknowledges that people have objected to the impact of various technologies on the human mind since forever—from writing (a fundamental, ancient form of technology) all the way up to the internet. It also agrees that these worries are “not unfounded.” “Used improperly, technologies can and do result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved,” the authors write, noting that any type of automation can deprive people of chances to practice using their minds. In the survey, they asked 319 knowledge workers who used generative AI at least every week if they turn on their brains and apply “critical thinking” when they use tools like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot. The findings were stark. Survey respondents said that when they had high confidence that an AI tool would do well at a particular task, they felt less need to apply their own critical thinking. On the other hand, when a worker had high confidence in their own skills and less in the AI’s, they felt good about putting effort into evaluating the output the AI gave them and then improving it. AI is redefining how we see work It all boils down to the fact that when knowledge workers use AI tools, it shifts the way they think about performing activities like analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information. The AI moves a worker’s focus from information gathering to information verification when using an AI to help try to understand something, and when using an AI for problem solving, the shift is away from carrying out the actual solving process to task stewardship. Think of it like this: When aircraft didn’t have an autopilot, fliers had to concentrate the whole time on operating the airplane—navigating, controlling, reacting to technical challenges, and feeling the way the wind was blowing. Modern day jetliner pilots have a very different job. They have to be able to fly the plane manually in case of unexpected problems, but minute to minute, what they’re often doing is monitoring the aircraft as it automatically flies itself to make sure it’s doing the right thing. Microsoft’s new research suggests that when people use an AI to help them solve work tasks, they’re doing the same thing—offloading the boring, slow, or difficult bits of the work to the AI and then managing the AI tool to get the desired output. The worry here is that over time people who used to hone their critical thinking skills all the time at work may lose some of that ability. One reassuring piece of pro-human info from the survey was that workers in high stakes workplaces or situations (like seeking medical advice from an AI) were conscious of the risk of over-relying on AI outputs that could be problematic, flawed, or flat-out wrong. Those respondents said they used their own thinking skills more. So what should we do about this? Should you worry that your workforce is going to become dimmer over time, human drudges merely shoveling data mindlessly into and out of an AI system? Not at all. The researchers suggest that one trick would be to design AI tools so they’ve got systems built into them that support worker skill development over the long term, The Register explains. And AIs should encourage workers to reflect on what’s happening when they’re interacting with AI outputs and even help the workers in this action—essentially keeping their minds focused, not blindly trusting the AI. It’s also possible that, as a good employer, you could give your staff tasks that keep their brains ticking over—ones that don’t need an AI boost. BY KIT EATON @KITEATON