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Does AI make us learn less?

  • 7′ min read

When was the last time you solved a problem at work without asking AI first?

Today, AI tools write drafts, summarize documents and suggest solutions in a few seconds. It might be a great opportunity. But it also raises an uncomfortable question: is AI making us more capable, or just more comfortable?

In a few words, we might hand mental tasks over to external tools.

It is not new: calculators and search engines have already changed what we remember.

AI goes one step further. It doesn’t just store information for us: it can analyze and write for us.

Think of AI as a very comfortable chair. There is nothing wrong with sitting down for a bit.

The problem begins when we stop standing up.

Introducing Brian

Brian is an experienced training manager and needs to create a new report to check the amount of training hours spent in his organization since beginning of the year.

Task: The Sustainability report is due very soon. Brian identifies the closest standard report and asks the AI to modify it to better suit his requirements. The task is not that simple, and AI is ready in four hours time with the new report.

AI-Generated Output

Brian reviews the result, it looks great and sends the report to the HR director. After a couple of days, a urgent meeting is called.

The HR manager is convinced the data are wrong: “We invested almost 100k euros in a completely new training program for all employees this year and this is on top of what we delivered last year: how come the numbers are lower?”

Brian doesn’t know. In reality, the AI slashed out the data of partially completed training, because the wrong DB Table was selected by the AI to create the report: Brian did not check the reasoning behind the outcome and never really looked at it. It took few days to identify this error and Brian could then improve his prompt for the AI at last.

AI as coach, not as a substitute.

So, should we avoid AI? Not at all. The point is not whether to use it, but how.
A substitute does the work for us. A coach challenges us and gives feedback, while we keep doing the work.

What we gain, and what we risk

The benefits are real:

  • Time: repetitive tasks take minutes instead of hours.

  • A starting point: help when the blank page feels too heavy.

But the same features can work against us:

  • Attention: staying with a difficult problem becomes harder.

  • Depth: reading a summary, reviewing the result is not the same as understanding a problem and following the logic involved in a process.

  • Trust: AI can be wrong sometimes, and we may stop checking.

Sometimes, the effort we put into recalling and applying information is what makes it stay.

The struggle is not a side effect of learning.

Very often, the effort is part of learning.

A quick self-check

Here are a few questions to reflect on:
  1. Do I try to solve a problem myself before asking AI?
  2. Do I check the answers AI gives me?
  3. Have I learned something new this week, without shortcuts?
  4. Would I feel confident doing my job if AI were unavailable for a day?

The comfortable chair will always be there.
But growth still happens when we stand up and make an effort.
And you, how do you use AI at your daily work?

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