The Mindtools L&D Podcast 434 — Cyborgs, centaurs and the role of choice infrastructure
It’s ‘Bring Your Paper to Work’ day at Mindtools Towers, as Ross G, Ross D and Dr Anna each take turns to share an academic study that they think has key insights for L&D professionals.
We discuss:
- The impact of AI on critical thinking, as investigated in:
- Lee, H. P. H., Sarkar, A., Tankelevitch, L., Drosos, I., Rintel, S., Banks, R., & Wilson, N. (2025). The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers.
- How consultants who use AI act either as ‘cyborgs’ or ‘centaurs’ in:
- Dell'Acqua, F., McFowland III, E., Mollick, E. R., Lifshitz-Assaf, H., Kellogg, K., Rajendran, S., ... & Lakhani, K. R. (2023). Navigating the jagged technological frontier: Field experimental evidence of the effects of AI on knowledge worker productivity and quality. Harvard Business School Technology & Operations Mgt. Unit Working Paper, (24-013).
- Why we should go beyond 'choice architecture' to look at 'choice infrastructure' in:
- Schmidt, R. (2024). A model for choice infrastructure: Looking beyond choice architecture in Behavioral Public Policy. Behavioural Public Policy, 8(3), 415-440.
During the discussion, Anna referenced our previous podcast with Erica Werneman Root, What does ‘AI literacy’ look like in organizations?
She also mentioned a blog from Ralph Losey on centaurs and cyborgs.
And we discussed Ross G's newsletter on augmentation vs upskilling.
In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross D discussed Chesteron's fence.
Anna discussed whether women can run faster than men over ultralong distances, via More or Less.
As a brief aside, apologies for the slightly worse audio on Ross G's track this episode. After 430+ episodes, he's still making mistakes.
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