Is AI making us dumber?

We've got some official results on this.

It's a real concern. We're all shifting from doers to reviewers. In every part of our work, AI does something and we check it's right.

But how can junior people review work they've never done themselves? And how will they even learn the profession if AI does the work for them?

If you've heard me speak, you know I'm optimistic about this. I teach myself through personalised podcast episodes with expert knowledge applied to my own circumstance. What a life hack!

My 13-year-old son, this week, built himself apps with simple AI prompts. One to learn world flags. One to prepare for a French exam he doesn't enjoy. One to figure out how to design a 3D object he wants to print.

He chose those projects. He wanted to learn. AI just made it faster.

That's my optimism. But what does the data actually say?

The largest AI study ever conducted

Anthropic, the company behind Claude, published some big insights on this.

They used an AI interviewer to survey 81,000 people in 159 countries and 70 languages. All in one week! Of course. Only AI could do that.

What the data shows

They surfaced many interesting insights (and lots of quotes from real users).

The bit that’s relevant to us is in the section called Light and Shade.

In this section they looked at benefits and harms people witnessed or expect with AI.

The one relevant for this is: learning versus cognitive atrophy.

33% of people mentioned learning as a benefit of AI . 17% mentioned cognitive atrophy (getting dumber) as a harm.

But here's where it gets interesting.

Of the people who said learning is a benefit of AI: 91% had actually experienced it firsthand.

Of the people worried about cognitive atrophy, only about half had actually seen it. The other half were just anticipating it.

So the benefit is grounded in experience. The harm is mostly still hypothetical.

Good news. But keep reading.

The split that may explain it

Educators were almost three times more likely than average to report witnessing cognitive atrophy firsthand. Presumably in their students.

But tradespeople? Almost half had experienced AI improving their learning. And almost none had witnessed atrophy. Self-employed researchers showed the same pattern.

So what's the difference?

Here's what Anthropic concluded: AI's benefits may be strongest when learning is chosen (volitional), compared to within institutional structures where AI is more likely to be used as a shortcut.

When I want to learn something, I use AI to learn it better.

When I have to deliver something, I use AI as a shortcut.

That is just… human.

What this means for us at work

If we measure our people on cold, hard productivity (output, volume, tasks completed) they will use AI as a shortcut. They have to. The pressure is on.

But if we inspire people with who they can become, the growth they can access, the potential and the opportunity they have at work, at home, in their passion projects…

Then they’ll figure out ways to use AI as a learning tool, as a coach, a mentor, an expert on any topic, and do more and more magic in the world!

So will AI make your juniors stop thinking?

I think that the answer, like so often, is not in the technology.

It’s in our business culture.

And that is something we can control.

Want to do these AI things together?

I'm starting a community for exactly this kind of conversation. Regular meetups. A resource hub. A builder's lab where we build things together.

The focus is on accounting and accounting adjacent roles.

We start in a month. First cohort is 50 people only. You can secure your spot today.

inbal.com.au/aiclub

—

Inbal Rodnay

Guiding Firms in AI Adoption and Automation

Keynote speaker | AI Workshops | Executive briefings | The Tech Savvy Firm

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