I would have liked to use the already-taken title ‘The Day We Stopped Thinking’, because that is what I am talking about. Or, more specifically, how AI is affecting how we think, act, and learn. And I don’t mean in a good way.

In fact, with excessive use of screens now proven to adversely affect children’s ability to learn, the NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car has recently introduced a new policy to limit screen time in schools. In my blog last week, I argued that accountability for decisions doesn’t disappear simply because AI was involved in making them. If you are accountable for a decision, you still need to test assumptions, challenge evidence and understand the limits of the advice you receive.

And that raises another question: Where do those capabilities come from in the first place?

Most organisations assume expertise develops naturally through experience. Analysts become good analysts by analysing. Strategists become good strategists by developing strategy. Advisers become trusted advisers by wrestling with difficult problems and learning how to navigate ambiguity, uncertainty and competing priorities.

But what happens when AI increasingly performs parts of that work for us?

Again, science has shown that “cognitive offloading” by using AI has adverse long term effects on our ability to think critically.

Which leads me to ask, what are you going to do about it?

Before you answer, think about how others have dealt with it. Commercial pilots, for example, rely heavily on automation, but they are still trained to fly manually. Why? Because systems fail and unexpected situations can occur. The capability remains essential even if it is used less frequently.

Pilots train in simulators, and you and your people can too in Business Simulations. If you have never been in one, you are missing out on an incredibly valuable capability building experience. I know, as I deliver them with colleagues Michael Schlosser from Sim-X Strategy and John Burgin from Shift127. Our simulations are purposefully designed to test your critical thinking skills to keep them strong and match fit for the complexity of today’s AI world. All in a risk-free way, just like a flight simulator.

Now I’ll leave you with one last question: How are you ensuring your workforce doesn’t dumb itself down right under your nose?