AI tools may weaken professional skills over time, studies suggest
Growing reliance on artificial intelligence tools could be undermining the skills of professionals in fields ranging from medicine to software development, according to recent studies that have raised concerns about the long-term impact of AI on human expertise, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports, citing Nature.
Researchers say early evidence points to a phenomenon known as "deskilling", in which people become less capable of performing tasks independently after routinely relying on AI assistance.
One of the clearest examples comes from medicine. A study involving experienced endoscopy specialists in Poland found that doctors became less effective at detecting precancerous intestinal growths during colonoscopies after they began using an AI system designed to identify such lesions in real time.
Before the technology was introduced, physicians detected at least one adenoma, a type of precancerous growth, in 28.4% of procedures. After several months of AI use, their detection rate during procedures performed without AI support fell to 22.4%.
Researchers said the findings suggest that even highly trained specialists may become less attentive or less confident in making decisions when they grow accustomed to AI assistance.
Similar concerns have emerged in software development. In a randomized study conducted by researchers at AI company Anthropic, 52 software engineers were asked to complete a coding task. Half of the participants used an AI assistant, while the others relied only on online resources and documentation.
Although both groups completed the assignment, those who used AI performed worse on a follow-up quiz designed to test what they had learned. The AI-assisted group scored an average of 50%, compared with 67% among participants who completed the task without AI help. Researchers found that AI users struggled particularly with questions requiring them to identify and diagnose coding errors, suggesting they had not fully absorbed the underlying concepts.
Experts say the issue reflects a broader challenge posed by generative AI systems. Unlike earlier technologies that automated physical or routine tasks, modern AI tools increasingly handle cognitive work such as analysis, interpretation and problem-solving.
Researchers note that similar effects have been observed before. A previous study of accountants who relied on automated accounting software for more than a decade found that many had forgotten how to perform certain routine tasks when the system was removed.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that AI transforms the labor market, creating winners and losers among workers.
