AI Can Boost Performance — But Leave Workers Less Capable Without It, Expert Warns

An innovation theorist is warning that heavy reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace can weaken human skills over time, leaving workers less capable when AI tools are unavailable. AI Boosts Performance — Then Skills Can Drop Last week, Business Insider reported that AI tools can temporarily improve worker performance while quietly eroding underlying skills, but John Nosta, founder of innovation think tank NostaLab, said this framing overlooks a major downside. "The skill set actually falls below baseline," Nosta told BI, describing what he calls an "AI rebound effect." He compared it to a doctor performing a colonoscopy with AI support. While the AI helps detect polyps and temporarily improves performance, the doctor's ability can decline when performing the procedure without AI the next day. False Confidence Risks Workplace Judgment Nosta also warned that AI can distort self-assessment. "We actually have an overinflated sense of ability through AI," he said. "That false confidence can be risky," particularly in high-stakes situations where independent judgment is critical. Researchers at Oxford University Press have reported similar findings, noting that AI can make students faster but shallower thinkers. Kimberley Hardcastle, a business professor at Northumbria University, added that heavy AI reliance can lead to "atrophy of epistemic vigilance," weakening the ability to verify and construct knowledge independently. AI Forces Rethink Of Jobs, Productivity Earlier this month, Tech leaders Bill Gates, Satya Nadella and Sam Altman said AI was already reshaping work, productivity and hiring, raising new questions about jobs, trust and economic adjustment. Gates said AI was enabling more output with less labor and accelerating changes in the job market, particularly in software development, with broader disruption expected across other industries. He urged governments to prepare for the shift and warned that AI's most immediate danger could be misuse in bioterrorism, even as he highlighted its potential benefits in health care, education and agriculture. Nadella said AI would lose public trust if it failed to deliver real-world improvements that justified its heavy energy use. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, he said AI needed to move beyond hype, remain under human control and spread its benefits broadly rather than concentrating them among a few players. Altman said AI was allowing companies to do more with smaller teams, prompting OpenAI to slow hiring while continuing to add workers to avoid future layoffs. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock