IBM Study: Six in Ten Employees Fear AI Is Eroding Critical Thinking Skills

A new study from IBM, released on 21 September 2026, finds that 60% of employees worry that artificial intelligence is eroding their skills, with critical thinking cited most often as declining. The research surveyed 1,500 Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) and 8,800 employees globally, and was published by the IBM Institute for Business Value.

A Gap Between Leaders and Workers

The study reveals a notable disconnect between HR leaders and employees on what skills matter most. While 71% of CHROs identify the ability to supervise, validate, and override AI outputs as the workforce's most essential skill, only 29% of employees rank judgment as important. CHROs also cite critical thinking (57%) and human judgment (48%) as among the most important workforce capabilities. Both groups do converge on one point: 49% of employees and 57% of CHROs say critical thinking and problem framing are among the skills that matter most in the AI era.

Skills Erosion and Confidence

Among employees who express concern about skills erosion, three out of four say AI has already begun to erode at least some of their skills. The concern ranks among CHROs' top issues, cited by 46% of respondents. The study also finds that organizational structure shapes employee confidence: where judgment is built into how work gets done, 62% of CHROs report growing employee confidence in AI-enabled decisions, while where it is not, 57% report confidence declining.

Organizations that clearly define workflows as human-led, AI-assisted, or AI-executed report an 18% risk reduction and 20% quality improvement, according to the study.

Accountability Gaps and Invisible Work

The research highlights a troubling accountability dynamic. According to the study, 43% of employees report that when something goes wrong with AI, the blame falls on them, while 41% of CHROs believe employees may not feel safe challenging or overriding AI outputs. Where the CHRO at least shares responsibility for which decisions remain human-led, 76% of employees feel safe to question or override AI recommendations — a figure that drops to 43% where HR is merely advisory.

The study also identifies what it calls "invisible" work created by AI adoption. The report states that 80% of CHROs believe employees now handle validating recommendations, fixing mistakes, providing context, and managing exceptions — tasks that often go unrecognized. Meanwhile, 42% of employees say AI increases their work or their work goes unnoticed, and only 42% of CHROs say AI productivity gains are reinvested for innovation or reskilling.

HR's Own AI Adoption Lags

Despite expectations that HR will lead AI transformation, the study finds that 72% of organizations make limited or no use of AI inside the HR function. CHROs rate their teams' capabilities low in AI literacy (13%), AI performance measurement (16%), and change management for AI adoption (20%). Organizations with mature HR AI capability — including governance, architecture, and measurement — are described in the study as nearly twice as likely to report a higher number of positive business KPIs.

Nearly half (46%) of organizations do not involve the CHRO when AI strategy is being defined, and only 28% of CHROs report having a joint roadmap with IT backed by a shared operating cadence. Some 73% say they struggle to coordinate consistently across the C-suite.

Executive Comment

Nickle LaMoreaux, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at IBM, said: "AI is changing not only how work gets done, but where people can contribute the greatest value. As AI takes on more routine and process-driven tasks, uniquely human capabilities become even more important. CHROs have a critical role to play in redesigning the workplace of the future so people can focus on the areas where they can have the greatest impact."

Geneviève Bich, Vice President of Human Resources and Board member at Metro, added: "Offering an organization a design framework for transformation is HR work. It's actually the HR work everyone aspires to."