A Developmental Hierarchy of Human-AI Cognition

Ensuring that workers use generative artificial intelligence (GAI) effectively and appropriately is a significant workforce development issue. Many workers become stuck in ''cognitive outsourcing'' (Kirschner, 2026); they simply ask AI to perform tasks for them, even when such use is inappropriate and even harmful. Beyond the quality of the work product, cognitive outsourcing also disrupts traditional expertise development pathways.