​Sharp Enough: Human Capability in the Age of AI Assistance

​AI tools are changing how we work.

​They help us move faster, handle more complexity, and produce outputs many of us could not achieve alone. But behavioural science tells us that expertise develops through effortful processing, feedback, and productive struggle.

​As more of that cognitive effort moves to machines, serious questions follow: what capabilities do we risk losing due to lack of practice (deskilling), and which new ones are we being pushed to develop?

​Cognitive deskilling is not new. Automation has reshaped expertise in aviation, radiology, and financial trading, weakening some human abilities while creating others. Recent clinical training literature shown an emerging emphasis on “The Triad of Skill Failure” (deskilling results in lack of practices; never-skilling due to failure to achieve competence; mis-skilling occurs due to adopting errors or bias from AI). What is different now is the scale and speed at which this is entering knowledge work.

​This event explores the emerging evidence on human-AI collaboration, upskilling and reskilling, the triad of skills failure (deskilling, never-skilling, and mis-skilling) and what it might take to design tools and habits that preserve and develop the capabilities we rely on.

​Questions anchoring the discussion

• ​Where is deskilling already evidenced in knowledge work, and where are we projecting beyond what research supports?

• ​Does prior expertise protect against overreliance, and when does it fail to?

• ​Where do AI tools improve human thinking, where might they replace it, and where are they creating new capabilities?

• ​What would a tool look like if its goal was strengthening capability, not just efficiency?

• ​If junior employees rely heavily on AI from the start, what does expertise development look like?

​Guest Panel

​Coming Soon

​​Event format

• ​​In-person, discussion-led evening with a strong emphasis on networking, connecting people working across technology, research, and policy

• ​​Short introductory remarks from each speaker to ground the discussion

• ​​Moderated Q&A panel, drawing connections across perspectives and real-world challenges

​​Open conversation and networking throughout, with time to connect informally after the panel

There is a small charge for the event, this allows us to provide food and drinks for the evening.