An increasing number of young people are using AI in their schoolwork, sometimes as inspiration, but at times also as a replacement for their own thinking and effort. If a student lets AI do their assignments for them, they skip the very process where real learning happens: tolerating uncertainty, making mistakes, and building their own understanding.
The effects of AI are not limited to schools but are also visible in working life. It can free up time and make processes more efficient, but it can also change our perception of expertise. If an employee constantly uses AI to make decisions, write texts or perform analyses without their own reflection, their professional depth will not develop. Work then becomes repetition instead of insight. So what will happen to the experts of the future – will they exist, and what will their real competence be like?
The ability to think is the most important tool of the future
Expertise should be built on experience and reflection, on understanding why a solution works and not only how to get it ready-made from AI. If this cycle breaks, society may drift into a situation where skills remain shallow and critical thinking erodes. People become accustomed to consuming information rather than producing it. AI makes information accessible, but it does not make a person a thinker. The responsibility for understanding remains with humans.
A good expert doesn’t just know facts about their field but can also evaluate, interpret and apply information. If decisions are produced by AI, people lose the practice and experiences that develop judgment. In the long run, society will begin to produce “AI-assisted employees”, but not new experts. The same applies to communication professionals: if thinking is outsourced to AI, the human interpretation that makes communication meaningful will disappear. This development threatens not only individual competence but also society’s innovativeness and the quality of decision-making.
At this point, the question is no longer about a tool but about a way of thinking. AI challenges us to consider what competence and expertise truly mean and what we are willing to outsource.
How can AI be used to support expertise?
AI can serve as a developer of one’s own thoughts. It can challenge one’s thinking and provide alternatives or counterarguments. With its help, an expert can guide their thinking toward deeper understanding. AI should therefore be seen as a tool for questioning and experimentation, not for completing tasks. When people use AI to support ideation, comparison and reflection, their own thinking is strengthened instead of replaced.
When an expert asks AI to explain a complex topic from different perspectives or to question their own assumptions, they simultaneously develop their cognitive flexibility. AI does not think for us, but it can help us see how we think. In this way, it serves as a tool for professional growth and learning.
Summarizing complex matters and clarifying large entities can provide a foundation on which it is easier for the expert to build their own understanding. When AI creates that foundation, humans can focus on developing content and comprehension. Used correctly, AI can broaden perspectives and speed up learning, but it must never take control.
AI can also support ethical and critical thinking. Since AI is not neutral, the expert must understand its boundaries and biases. When a person learns to critically evaluate the information produced by AI, they simultaneously strengthen their professional backbone. Ethical literacy is the foundation of future expertise.
Ultimately, the relationship between humans and AI works best as a partnership. AI can inspire and offer new perspectives, but the human creates the meaning. What makes thinking and work human is the ability to perceive, interpret and feel. The expertise of the future will not be built on opposition – on human versus machine – but on how they can think better together.
There is no shortcut to success, but one does not have to be foolish. AI is here to stay. So let’s learn to use it wisely. AI will not replace expertise, but when used correctly, it can strengthen it.