Technology

Critical Thinking in The Age of AI: Loss, Risk, and Protecting EX

Operations Manager Pia has three to five tabs of generative AI tools open on her laptop at any given moment. She believes the use of these tools has made her more efficient and productive at her job. But when it’s time for her review, she’s shocked: Her reporting manager has given her a low rating on critical thinking skills. Pia finds it deeply unfair. The manager’s feedback? “A lot of free-to-use generative AI tools right now leverage machine learning. And that’s great. But Pia tends to use them to complete most of her tasks, including those that demand breaking the pattern… evaluating things from a place of emotional intelligence… identifying underlying biases or threats…. and so on. Machine learning does not equate to human thinking or for that matter, even machine thinking.” As Pia works through her feedback, many of us are wondering about these same issues. How can we use AI tools to power our productivity without sacrificing our human innovation, creativity, and critical thinking? Loss of thought The employee-manager gap isn’t an isolated one. Across companies, managers are fast losing even their top talent’s critical thinking skills to AI. This is owing to several reasons: Overworked professionals are using AI as an assistant to complete their tasks The buzz around AI has led to a sense of fear – use it or get replaced by it There are few guidelines around the nature of tasks for which generative AI tools work best Professionals are genuinely able to get […]