Researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University asked 319 knowledge workers about 936 real situations in which they used AI at work. Two patterns stood out. People who trusted the tool a lot said they thought less critically about its answers. People who trusted their own skills said they thought more critically.

The study also shows how work is changing. Less time goes into producing a first draft, and more time into checking, combining and taking responsibility for the result.¹

Talent Takeaway

It reminds us how much people's confidence in their own judgment is worth in the age of AI. We can strengthen it: talk openly about the fact that checking and judging are becoming a core part of the job, and make time to practice exactly that. A good habit for all of us: before accepting an AI answer, ask "How would I know if this is wrong?"

¹ Lee, H., Sarkar, A., Tankelevitch, L., Drosos, I., Rintel, S., Banks, R., & Wilson, N. (2025). The impact of generative AI on critical thinking: Self-reported reductions in cognitive effort and confidence effects from a survey of knowledge workers. Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713778

Further reading: Bastani, H., et al. (2025). Generative AI without guardrails can harm learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(26). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2422633122