AI Use Risks Stagnation and Mediocrity for Workers, Experts Warn

Using artificial intelligence can make people "boring," according to Sandra Matz, a professor at Columbia Business School. Her research on the topic indicates two direct consequences for workers: stagnation and mediocrity.

"When employees use it to outsource critical thinking or creative reasoning, there's a real risk of gradually falling behind and becoming complacent," said Matz.

One reason for that is many AI tools generate the most obvious and safe responses, she said: "In short, we become just like everyone else."

Already 43% of workers in the U.S. report using AI for their job, according to a study published in March by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

But many professionals may struggle to distinguish between helpful and harmful ways of using the technology, said Fred Oswald, an industrial-organizational psychologist and a former member of the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee.

"There is a Wild West of AI use that's worth understanding and exploring, so that employees and organizations can manage risks and further benefit," Oswald said.

AI should not 'replace judgment'

Using AI can be "fantastic" for upping your productivity by automating and accelerating mundane work tasks, Matz said. You can also use the technology as "a sparring partner for brainstorming," she said.

But you don't want AI to replace your own thinking, problem-solving and creativity, she added.

"The moment all employees start consulting AI when developing their ideas, independent thinking begins to give way to algorithmic consensus," Matz said.

Americus Reed II, a professor of marketing at the Wharton School of Business, said his colleagues describe outsourcing your critical thinking to AI as "cognitive surrender."

Instead, AI is best used for summarizing information, analyzing data and organizing ideas, Reed said.

"It should remove friction, not replace judgment," he said. "The goal is to spend less time processing information and more time creating meaning."

Those early in their career should be especially mindful that AI isn't getting in the way of their learning, said Dorothy Leidner, a business and ethics professor at the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

"The risk is higher for younger workers who do not have a deep expertise to help them use AI as a thought enhancer rather than a thought generator," Leidner said.

Using AI with colleagues can 'erode trust'

Using AI to draft emails or Slack messages to colleagues, employees or managers "will gradually erode trust," Matz said.

While AI can summarize a meeting or compile a progress report, informal workplace interactions should be organic and spontaneous, she said.

"The moment we suspect that a message has been outsourced to AI, we might start to question whether our colleagues care enough to write to us themselves," she said.

It's the imperfections, lack of polish and even tension in communication that lead to the strongest connections, she said.

"Preserving those human signals in our interactions is going to be a major challenge for organizations adopting AI," Matz said.

Leidner said she also recommends against relying too much on "digital twins," or your virtual clone, when talking to people you know.

"If we get to the point where AI is generating the emails and AI is responding to the emails, then there is no actual communication taking place," Leidner said.

Find your meaning where AI falls short

Eva Selenko, a work psychology professor at Loughborough University in England, said she is most worried about people using AI for tasks that are "core to one's self-understanding as a professional."

"Witnessing a tool outperforming you on a central task of your expertise can be a status threat," Selenko said. "If these opportunities are taken away, your self-concept gets a bit more shaky."

However, experiences like this one may be inevitable as the technology improves, Reed said.

"When AI performs tasks you've long considered 'your thing,' it's natural to ask, 'What value do I still bring?'" Reed said.

The answer isn't to stop using the tools, but to find your meaning "around qualities AI can't replicate," Reed said.

"Workers must remember that adopting AI is not the same as outsourcing your identity," he said. "Technology changes quickly, but the uniquely human skills — judgment, creativity, curiosity and relationships — become even more valuable."