{"id":85833,"date":"2025-04-02T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=85833"},"modified":"2025-04-02T08:41:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T15:41:04","slug":"agentic-ai-critical-thinking-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/stories\/agentic-ai-critical-thinking-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Definition of Smart: Agentic AI’s Impact on Critical Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Artificial Intelligence (AI<\/a>) headlines often warn of a future where humans outsource cognition to algorithms, eroding our intellectual capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality, however, appears to be just the opposite. Emerging research and real-world implementations show that when properly integrated into workflows, AI doesn\u2019t diminish human cognitive capabilities \u2014 it enhances them. By handling routine tasks and information processing, AI allows knowledge workers to engage with higher-order thinking, develop new meta-skills, and focus on uniquely human contributions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With AI, the cognitive challenge for humans has shifted from accessing information to effectively filtering, evaluating, and directing technology while preserving human judgment and critical thinking. Rather than diminishing our capabilities, AI-powered tools might even help extend our creativity into entirely new domains previously beyond our reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Today, you can push a button and the data just comes at you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leah McGowen-Hare, SVP of Trailhead Community, Salesforce<\/sub><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This cognitive shift represents a fundamental change in how we process information, according to Leah McGowen-Hare, SVP of Trailhead Community at Salesforce. While earlier generations had to learn systems like the Dewey decimal classification just to access information, the issue now is having too much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Today, you can push a button and the data just comes at you,” she said. “The skills that my kids are going to need are filtering the data, critically thinking, and looking at that data.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research backs up this collaborative relationship. A 2024 study on collaborative intelligence<\/a> from Slack, which is owned by Salesforce, found AI-powered tools save users 97 minutes per week\u200c on average \u2014 \u200ctime that can be redirected to deeper thinking and creative problem-solving. <\/p>\n\n\n

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