How to avoid creating “AI zombies” in your workplace

The author is fascinated by zombies and wonders if humans are becoming like them in the AI-powered workplace. A recent MIT study found that people who relied on AI to write essays showed a significant decrease in brain activity related to memory, creativity, and attention. Even after stopping the use of AI, participants still underperformed in critical thinking and recall tasks. This underperformance may increase the risk of clinical depression, anxiety, Alzheimer's disease, and dementia. The rapid adoption of AI chatbots has raised concerns about the impact on human critical thinking. If we adopt AI-first strategies, we may be setting ourselves up for failure in the long run. This could lead to a workforce that appears busy but is functionally brain-dead, unable to think for themselves or problem-solve. To avoid this, it's essential to develop a reinvention mindset, empower teams, and maintain a healthy balance between AI use and human creativity. By focusing on human qualities like curiosity, resilience, and creative problem-solving, we can build a culture of reinvention that will lead in the changing world order. By taking these steps, we can avoid creating a workforce of "zombies" and instead build a high-performing culture that adapts to change.