AI May Be Ruining Your Critical Thinking. Here's How To Save It

AI can give you answers in seconds, but what happens when you stop questioning those answers? A September 2026 IBM study found that 60% of employees worry AI is eroding their skills, including critical thinking, the most frequently cited decline. At the same time, 57% of chief human resources officers identify critical thinking as one of the most important capabilities employees need.

As AI makes information easier to access and decisions faster to reach, employees may have fewer opportunities to develop the skills they need to evaluate what the technology produces. I’ve spent years researching curiosity and what prevents people from asking questions, and I believe curiosity deserves far more attention in conversations about AI and critical thinking.

Why Curiosity Matters To Critical Thinking

During my years as an MBA program chair and dean, I had opportunities to provide input into how university courses were designed. One of the most important skills I believed students needed to develop was critical thinking. Students could memorize information and perform well on exams, but I wanted them to question what they were learning, consider different perspectives and apply their knowledge to situations where the answers weren’t obvious. Those abilities were essential to preparing them for the workplace, and they are even more important as AI becomes part of everyday decisions.

That interest also influenced my research into the factors that inhibit curiosity. In 2019, my work became part of the required curriculum in the Master of Human Resource Management program at the Forbes School of Business & Technology. At the time, HR program chair Dr. Katie Thiry explained that studying these factors could help students develop marketable skills that contribute to long-term career success. Understanding what prevents people from exploring ideas and questioning assumptions is especially important when developing critical-thinking skills.