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If AI lives up to its hype and we can outsource the thinking, planning, and strategy parts of our jobs, do we risk losing the skills that make us human? Research from the Center for Strategic Corporate Foresight and Sustainability found that there is “a significant negative correlation between frequent AI tool usage and critical thinking abilities, mediated by increased cognitive offloading. In other words, use AI too much, and your mental faculties take a nosedive. But theres another way to think about the issue. Could AI actually improve our cognition by freeing up our mental bandwidth for higher-value work? {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/04\/workbetter-logo.png","headline":"Work Better","description":"Thoughts on the future of work, career pivots, and why work shouldn't suck, by Anna Burgess Yang. To learn more visit workbetter.media.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.workbetter.media","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}} Make time for strategic thinking Ive worked at jobs in the past where Ive begged my boss for the budget to purchase technology that would make work better and easier. If technology could do part of my job for me, I could spend more time on other things, things that typically fell to the bottom of the pile because they didnt have an instant, tangible result. Thinking strategically about improvements I could make in my department, for example. I suspect most knowledge workers can relate. We compile reports, attend status meetings, and follow processes with endless tedious tasks. Theres rarely time for higher-level thinking. While technology improvements may have previously been a no, the response to AI has been a resounding yes. Perhaps its the promise of 10x everything but CEOs are enamored with the potential of AI. AI as sparring partner For many people, this poses a threat. For others, it can create an opportunity. Farm out the redundant, tedious tasks to AI so we can focus on work that requires our unique expertise. Take coding, for example. Software can have millions of lines of code, which previously needed to be entered manually. Now, AI can handle much of the repetitive work. Human coders take on the role of orchestrators: the brains behind the operation, guiding AI agents to the correct result. Personally, Ive used AI to expand my existing skills. Im self-employed, so I dont have any colleagues to bounce ideas off of if Im stuck. I was working with an app recently, and couldnt get it to do what I wanted. I turned to ChatGPT and asked for help. ChatGPT gave me incorrect information, which I recognized right away, based on my knowledge of the app. I prodded ChatGPT again, explaining why the previous answer wouldnt work. ChatGPT replied, Youre right! Here are some additional steps you need to take. The instructions were, again, incorrect. However, the incorrect instructions were enough to spark an idea . . . and my idea worked. As a sparring partner, AI let me work through a problem that I otherwise wouldnt have been able to solve on my own (at least not without a significant amount of trial, error, and frustration). My skills havent atrophied because of AI. Quite the opposite: AI takes over some of the boring work, and lets me focus on more creative workthe type of work only a human can do. The right use cases Even if the research currently suggests that AI negatively affects critical thinking abilities, that doesnt have to be your experience. You can find the right use cases to remove the boring and tedious work from your day. Once you do that, use the additional time for impactful work that was always pushed to the back burner. Or spend the time learning something new that could help your career. The people who will experience skill atrophy are those who outsource everything to AIand cant recognize when work needs human oversight, decision-making, and experience. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/04\/workbetter-logo.png","headline":"Work Better","description":"Thoughts on the future of work, career pivots, and why work shouldn't suck, by Anna Burgess Yang. To learn more visit workbetter.media.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.workbetter.media","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}}
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The technology industry is in the midst of a skills shortageone that shows no signs of slowing. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that tech jobs will grow at twice the rate of Americas overall workforce, creating hiring shortfalls as organizations struggle to fill critical positions in IT, cybersecurity, and other vital areas. The emergence of AI has only exacerbated the issue, as organizations in nearly every industry are seeking employees who can help them better understand the technology and get the most out of their solutions. Even as AI becomes a part of everyday life, most organizations are still determining how best to utilize itand how to limit the risks it may pose. Interestingly, these challenges mirror another (relatively) recent innovation: the cloud. Before cloud computing became commonplace, businesses with any sort of digital footprint needed to buy rack space or manage their own on-premises servers. That was reasonable for businesses with a high degree of technical expertise, but building and maintaining a climate-controlled server room wasnt realistic for most companies. The advent of cloud computing democratized access to advanced computing capabilitiesand AI is already having a similar impact. As businesses wrestle with managing and securing their AI deployments, they can look to the cloud for lessons and guidance on how similar challenges were tackled in the recent past. The Evolution of Cloud Adoption and Security Consider the cost of on-premises computing. Server rooms are expensive, as are the servers themselves. They also require a substantial degree of technical expertise to maintain, and employees with experience in that area understandably command high compensation. The emergence of platforms like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud changed all that, lowering the barrier to entry for advanced computing capabilities: businesses could eliminate the high initial investment associated with purchasing servers and building server rooms in exchange for a modest (in most cases) operating expense. Perhaps most importantly, it allowed businesses to work with reliable partners to get the most out of their cloud services, rather than relying on difficult-to-come-by in-house expertise. That said, securing the cloud still presents its own challenges. During the early days of the cloud, businesses often made the mistake of assuming that providers would handle any cybersecurity needsa misconception that left them dangerously exposed. Today, the most common rule of thumb is that the provider is responsible for the security of the cloud itself, while the customer is responsible for the security of the data inside it. Essentially, the provider ensures attackers cannot exploit their systems to get to your data, but if poor password management, device security, or other data hygiene practices allow attackers to compromise your accountsthats on you. This delineation has helped businesses better understand where their potential risk factors lie when it comes to cloud security and mitigate them appropriately. Applying Lessons from the Cloud to AI Its not hard to see the parallels between the cloud and AI. Like the cloud, AI has democratized access to resources that were previously difficult to come by for many organizations. The widespread availability of generative AI models like ChatGPT means organizations no longer need to hire costly AI engineers to create, manage, and fine-tune their own models. Instead, they can put an application layer on top of an existing model and deliver a compelling service to their customers at a relatively low cost of ownership. While this still requires a level of technical expertise, the barrier to entry is much lowerand organizations can move forward faster with smaller, more flexible engineering teams. The risks posed by this model mirror those posed by the cloud. When you upload data to the cloud, it is no longer under your direct control. The same is true of third-party AI modelswhen customers (or employees) input data into an AI-powered application, its important to know where the data is going, how it is being stored and protected, and how it is being used. With AI still in its relative infancy, the answers to those questions arent always clearwhich means businesses providing AI functionality need strong AI governance practices in place to establish trust with their customers. For some businesses, that might mean offering customers the ability to opt out of AI features. For others, it might mean putting clear safeguards in place to prevent AI tools from accessing sensitive or confidential information. By demonstrating the ways in which they are limiting AI risk, businesses free their customers to evaluate the benefits of AI. Over time, most businesses migrated to the cloud because the efficiency gains substantially outweighed the perceived risksand a similar pattern is already emerging when it comes to AI. In fact, its happening even more quickly this time. Since AI has use cases across nearly every business unit, the potential ROI is much easier to illustrate. While its true that every customer will have a different risk appetite, the trend is clear: eventually, nearly every business will decide that the rewards significantly outweigh the risks. By establishing strong governance practices and lowering the amount of risk associated with AI, businesses can help their customers reach that point more quickly. Freeing Customers to Embrace AI with Confidence While businesses and their customers are understandably concerned about AI risk, the history of the cloud provides a helpful road map for navigating those risks successfully. The risks associated with AI are not dramatically different from those associated with other technologyand businesses can mitigate them in much the same way. By establishing strong governance practices and implementing clear transparent policies regarding AI and its use, businesses can enable their employees and customers to embrace the potential of AI with confidence.
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E-Commerce
With 100 days back in office, its fair to say that President Trump is leaving his mark. That hasnt necessarily been a positive thing for the media or journalism, however, as the Trump administrations second iteration has been even more hostile to the press than the first, and it has many experts alarmed. Examples are myriad, and include (but arent limited to): Trump banned Associated Press reporters from White House news conferences for refusing to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Lawsuits have been filed against ABC News and CBS, among others, with some having settled. Trumps Federal Communications Commission has threatened or initiated investigations into broadcasters. The administration reportedly wants to cut funding for NPR and PBS. The administration has tried to shut down Voice of America. And while presidential administrations often spar with members of the mediaRichard Nixon, perhaps most notably, was also hostile to the pressthe Trump administration is taking this hostility to whole new levels, media industry experts argue. What stands out to me is that this is a concerted, multipronged campaign against ethical journalists and the independent press, says Caroline Hendrie, executive director of the Society of Professional Journalists. Were looking at this as a strategy of a death by a thousand cutstake it all together, and were seeing an assault on transparency, accountability, and the publics right to know. The goal, Hendrie says, is fairly simple: Boost Trump’s agenda and slap down any voice that pushes back against it. They want to delegitimize anyone who contradicts his narrative or the narrative of the administration, she says. Using the levers of government to not only influence coverage but also punish news outlets raises “more than red flags,” Hendrie adds. “It’s raising very legitimate alarms that our First Amendment free press rights are in danger in this country.” Part of a broader attack on expertise Gabriel Kahn, professor of professional practice of journalism at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Journalism, says attacks on the press coming from a sitting administration have “never been so blatant or severe, at least over the past 80 years.” However, Kahn says its important to think of the attack on the press as only one part of the issue. You need to see the attacks on journalism and science and higher education as a part of the same piece,” he says. “Its an attack on expertise, on independent thought.” He adds that many news organizations haven’t done themselves any favors in how they’ve responded to the administrations treatment. Specifically, he cites some newspapers reluctance (or refusal) to endorse a presidential candidate during the 2024 election, the reining in of opinion writers, and the censoring of news stories to curry favor with the Trump team. According to Kahn, obeying in advance and kowtowing to the administration, which is also happening at major universities and big law firms, risks doing more harm than good for media outlets. Major corporate journalism interests have chosen the illusion of some sort of short-term relief over the long-term damage theyre doing to their brands,” he says. If theres anything good thats come out of Trumps treatment of the press, Kahn says, it’s that it has highlighted how fragile the free press is. Weve taken so much for granted for so long. [The administration has] demonstrated to the American people how important it is to have a free, independent press.
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