AI "Exploitation Issue" Comes to Light: Experts Warn that Workplace Curiosity and Critical Thinking Are Diminishing

AI is convenient and instant, but at what cost to our brains?

By the end of 2025, generative AI tools like ChatGPT have become widely integrated into daily office routines, from data organization to content creation, almost everything is possible. However, more and more experts and researchers point out that the convenience of these tools may come at the expense of human curiosity, deep thinking, and long-term professional development.

Product management educator George Nurijanian recently posted on X (Twitter) that AI is exhibiting a phenomenon he calls the “Extraction Problem.” He believes that the quick answers provided by AI seem to satisfy people’s thirst for knowledge, but in reality, they omit the processes of learning, thinking, and self-understanding, which could lead humans to gradually lose the “curiosity cycle” necessary for building expertise.

From curiosity to laziness: How AI makes us lose our thinking muscles

Nurijanian uses a beginner product manager as an example to illustrate the real-world impact of this phenomenon: when faced with complex stakeholder opinions, this PM directly hands the problem over to AI for analysis instead of dissecting the issue and exploring key points themselves. While this saves time, it also effectively hands over the “cognitive loop” that should be performed by the brain to the machine, which over the long term is detrimental to experience accumulation and skill growth.

MIT Study: Brain response significantly decreases when writing with AI

Nurijanian’s observation is not unfounded. In 2025, MIT Media Lab released a study titled “Your Brain on ChatGPT,” which directly observed changes in brain activity under different writing scenarios. Participants wrote under three conditions: not relying on tools at all, using a search engine, and using large language models (like GPT-4o).

The results showed that participants using AI tools had the weakest brain activity, with neural connections decreasing by as much as 55%, and overall cognitive engagement also significantly reduced. The research team called this phenomenon “Cognitive Debt”: when the brain habitually outsources complex thinking, it can lead to a long-term decline in creativity and thinking ability.

This study was led by Nataliya Kosmyna and Pattie Maes. They pointed out that even if these habitual users no longer rely on AI for writing later, their brain activity remains low, indicating a long-term impact of AI tools on brain function.

More than one study: Higher AI usage correlates with weaker critical thinking

Not only MIT, but more research in 2025 supports this point. A study published in the sociology journal Societies by Michael Gerlich found a clear correlation between frequent AI tool use and decreased critical thinking skills. The core reason remains “Cognitive Offloading” — when people delegate thinking tasks to machines, the opportunity for brain training is deprived.

In the same year, a survey supported by Microsoft and presented at CHI 2025 also indicated that knowledge workers generally feel that their “subjective cognitive engagement” has declined after relying on AI to handle routine tasks.

From tool to crutch? Experts call for establishing healthy AI usage habits

While AI improves short-term efficiency, over-reliance may lead to a decline in innovation and professional skills. Especially in fields like product management, design, and research, which require comprehensive judgment and creative thinking, “skipping” the exploration process weakens the foundation of professional development.

Nurijanian urges professionals to maintain a “Curiosity Loop” — the continuous process of questioning, trial and error, and discovery, which is key to accumulating and deepening professional knowledge. He emphasizes that AI should be a “collaborator,” not a “substitute.”

Key issue for 2026: How to preserve human intelligence in smart work?

As 2026 approaches, the role of AI in the workplace will only become more important. Experts, educators, and policymakers are calling for clear guidelines on AI use to prevent technological progress from causing a regression in human thinking abilities.

In an era where automation becomes the new normal, how to “use AI wisely without relying on it” may become the key to future workplace competitiveness.

This article’s discussion of the AI “Extraction Problem” and warnings about the loss of curiosity and thinking skills in the workplace first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.