442 — Is AI making us dumber?

Often on this podcast we've spoken about how AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are enhancing our capabilities. But do they also come at a cost? In this week's episode of The Mindtools L&D Podcast, Ross Stevenson from Steal These Thoughts joins Ross G and Dr Gent to discuss: the relationship between tasks and skills; whether we are over-relying on AI; the long-term impact of AI use on critical thinking. During the discussion, Ross S discussed the recent robot race in Beijing and the concept of vibe coding, via Lovable. He also mentioned Apple's sometimes-hilarious AI summaries. Gent discussed cognitive offloading. The paper Gent discussed was: Gerlich, M. (2025). AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking. Societies, 15(1), 6. In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross G shared how you can use a sausage to interact with your smartphone screen. For more from Ross S, visit Steal These Thoughts. For more from us, visit mindtools.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning Content Hub, our Manager Skills Assessment, our Manager Skill Builder and our custom work.  You can also subscribe to our newsletter. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with us on LinkedIn: Ross Garner Dr Gent Ahmetaj Ross Stevenson