442 — Is AI making us dumber?
Episode description
Often on this podcast we've spoken about how AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are enhancing our capabilities. But do they also come at a cost?
In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross Stevenson from Steal These Thoughts joins Ross G and Dr Gent to discuss:
- the relationship between tasks and skills;
- whether we are over-relying on AI;
- the long-term impact of AI use on critical thinking.
During the discussion, Ross S discussed the recent robot race in Beijing and the concept of vibe coding, via Lovable. He also mentioned Apple's sometimes-hilarious AI summaries.
Gent discussed cognitive offloading.
The paper Gent discussed was:
Gerlich, M. (2025). AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking. Societies, 15(1), 6.
In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross G shared how you can use a sausage to interact with your smartphone screen.
For more from Ross S, visit Steal These Thoughts.
For more from us, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning Content Hub, our Manager Skills Assessment, our Manager Skill Builder and our custom work.
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