Overreliance on Gen AI tools at work can kill independent problem-solving skills: Microsoft report

The study named “The Impact of Generative AI connected Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions successful Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers” examines 2 cardinal questions: erstwhile and however cognition workers comprehend the inaction of captious reasoning erstwhile utilizing Gen AI; and erstwhile and wherefore bash they comprehend accrued oregon decreased effort for captious reasoning owed to Gen AI. The researchers studied 319 cognition workers and examined 936 real-world examples of AI use. 

What does the probe say?

The probe was conducted by Hao-Ping (Hank) Lee from Carnegie Mellon University, successful collaboration with Advait Sarkar, Lev Tankelevitch, Ian Drosos, Sean Rintel, Richard Banks, and Nicholas Wilson from Microsoft Research. It was presented astatine the CHI Conference connected Human Factors successful Computing Systems successful 2025.

As portion of the survey, the researchers measured task factors, idiosyncratic factors, and cognitive activities. Under task factors, they studied uses similar creation, information, and proposal with respect to assurance successful their ain skills and spot successful AI. User factors included a inclination to bespeak connected work, spot successful GenAI, and demographic details. Cognitive abilities survey six types of captious thinking—knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Those utilizing AI tools thin to deliberation of copy-pasting with insignificant changes arsenic captious thought, accepting AI responses without immoderate scrutiny successful the process. The study has besides underscored the narration betwixt assurance levels and captious thinking. According to the report, higher spot successful AI is associated with reduced effort successful captious thinking. On the different hand, greater self-confidence results successful enhanced captious reasoning and in-depth valuation of responses by AI.

The study states that 60 per cent of participants reported engaging successful captious reasoning portion utilizing Gen AI. Since assurance successful Gen AI has been linked to little captious thinking, this means much users spot AI tools and seldom question the outputs. 

What does this mean?

While Gen AI tools boost productivity, they besides pb to decreased captious engagement. In low-stakes situations, workers whitethorn usage AI for draughting emails and societal media posts with insignificant modifications. This leads to the hazard of overreliance, and workers whitethorn oregon whitethorn not usage their autarkic problem-solving skills. The study is simply a informing that those who usage AI tools extensively whitethorn hazard cognitive accomplishment erosion, particularly successful tasks that request deeper analysis.

However, this besides calls to attraction the request to support captious reasoning portion utilizing AI tools. Gen AI tools request to beryllium designed keeping successful caput idiosyncratic confidence, motivation, and awareness. They should see features that propulsion users to question AI outputs, promote a wont of captious review, connection a feedback loop, etc.

If you are idiosyncratic who uses fashionable AI tools connected the enactment front, you tin onslaught a equilibrium by maintaining an progressive and questioning mindset, cross-referencing AI responses, and, astir importantly, utilizing AI arsenic a copilot and not an eventual solution provider. 

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