TODAY’S THOUGHTS ☠️

Hey friend 👋,

A few years back, I wrote an analysis on “The Hidden Impact of AI on Your Skills” when it wasn't so sexy to talk about the not so nice side effects of addictive intelligence aka AI.

Then late last year, I followed this up with a sort of sequel where I explored that “Skill erosion impacted by AI is a real problem we can’t ignore”.

Since publishing that last one, I’ve only noticed that erosion is increasing but let me be clear that is not the fault of AI, no my fellow human, it is in how we choose to use AI.

This piece from BCG titled: “When Everyone Uses AI, Companies Risk Losing Critical Skills”, got my neurons firing all over again about the topic. That and the fact I’ve witnessed some rather odd lapses in judgement, common sense and critical thinking with more human interactions these past 3 months.

So, today, I’m revisiting my initial analysis of why skill erosion is a real problem, and how you, me and the rest of our society can do something about that.

I don’t have all the answers, yet I’m sure we can come up with some good ones together.

Get your tea or beverage of choice ready 🍵.

We've got lots to discuss!

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IN THIS DROP 📔

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THE BIG THOUGHT 👀

Ok, this update was prompted by BCG rolling into my inbox with this banger.

Safe to say I was nodding along to it all but also thinking: “what took you so long to figure this out?”.

The TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) of that article is BCG surveyed 70 C-suite leaders and senior executives across multiple industries and found that half are already observing de-skilling in their organisations. Plus, more than 60% believe that this de-skilling will pose a material threat within the next three to five years (I’d say today but who am I against a billion-dollar company?).

Their pov is that a growing body of research points to a mounting cognitive debt, the gradual erosion of critical thinking, judgment, curiosity, and originality among frequent AI users.

That all sounds positive, doesn’t it?

It’s not like we don’t know this in the dark deep reaches of our minds.

We’re just mostly choosing not to talk about it as it’s far more thrilling to focus on “Oh, did you see how good that new model from Claude is? It made me this pretty strategy document”.

What gives, will also take.

It’s such a serious sounding word, isn’t it?

Like something your parents would say to you.

Our choices can lead to consequences in many forms, that’s the risk we all take, and not to keep sounding like some old stoic, but life is essentially all about risk.

When I spoke about AI over-reliance and the illusion of expertise in a previous post, I only covered in small detail what the consequences of those choices could mean.

In 2026, it’s clear to me that’s skill erosion.

Do you remember just after the pandemic, when every headline was something like “The Great ‘x’ of blah blah?”

I’m happy to make a contribution to that movement 😂.

Jokes aside, you might be noticing some people’s skill sets are eroding through lack of use, and some aren’t even learning the skills at all. This is being driven by the change in the tasks we now deliver.

As AI gets better and better at completing a wide variety of tasks, it means we (as humans) do less in certain areas.

That is not always a bad thing.

Cognitive offloading of some tasks can amplify our ability to perform better in the workplace. A good example of this is GPS. Before we had GPS in our lives to guide us to destinations, we’d spend hours pouring over gigantic maps with tiny text, trying to figure out the best route.

Now, at the touch of a button, we’re guided without having to activate one brain cell.

There’s another side to this coin, though.

Humans, for the most part, want to take the path of least resistance and favour instant gratification over the challenge (I’m no different here).

The problem is that real learning and thus improved performance are about navigating the challenges. It’s really hard to learn how, what and why if you don’t experience the struggle.

AI doesn’t take this away all on its own, how we use AI does.

In our quest for “more time”, “creative freedom”, “improved efficiency” and every other statement that tech CEOs blurt out about AI, we’ve become obsessed with the automation of everything.

This creates the consequences I’m talking about.

I always remember an old colleague saying, “You can have it all, you just can’t have it at the same time”.

While it was in relation to something else, I can’t help but think it fits well in this conversation.

I’ve found life to be a series of trade-offs.

If you say yes to one thing, you’re saying no to something else. It sounds like easy math (and it is), but it’s by no means a simple equation.

I’m not the first to consider the impact of AI in this way.

The folks at Gartner have been covering this as they look towards what is putting future workforces at risk.

Here’s an excerpt to ponder:

We have skills eroding through lack of practice and application, and it seems, the quick expiring of skill creation with future generations entering the workforce.

Harold Joche put it nicely when he said, “One key factor in understanding how we learn and develop skills is that experience cannot be automated”.

So, what can be done?

Are we doomed to roam the world skill-less and watch AI-powered tools suck the life out of the world itself? Of course not, there is a way, my fellow human hacker.

So, instead of moaning about the great wave of skill erosion, I’d rather focus on doing something about it.

The good news is there’s a lot we can all do.

If you haven’t already, you can find a ton of my guidance in these articles:

Saves me repeating myself like a broken record here.

The folks at Gartner offer some basic but useful actions for the workforce:

And you’ll find BCG’s advice in the article I shared earlier.

Fret not friend, I have more …

I went deep on “Why you need to know what not to do with AI”, in a previous edition (like, you should totally read that).

In that, I walk through a great exercise from the internet's favourite chill founder, Greg Isenberg called the “Non-negotiable”.

It's below to save you finding it later.

My question to you: What would you add?

There’s much more to ponder on this.

Like with everything in this space, whether it happens or not is down to your individual choices and intentions. So, if you want to craft a career for the long haul, make smarter choices when it comes to how you use AI.

The fate of your skills and capabilities depends on it.

See you next time, human.

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