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Principle 05 · While you work · Critical thinking
People form their own view before relying on AI, and keep practicing the skills their work depends on.
Key question
What do I think?
Benefit
People improve at their work while AI makes them faster at it.
AI can make you faster. Whether it also makes you better depends on how you use it. A survey of 319 knowledge workers by Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft Research found that the more people trusted AI with a task, the less critical thinking they reported, while people confident in their own ability reported more.
Put your own thinking first. Write three lines of your own answer before you ask, then compare them with the AI’s and note what you learn.
Skills can fade when a machine does the work. Aviation met this years ago: in 2013 the US Federal Aviation Administration encouraged airlines to promote manual flying when appropriate, because continuous use of automation doesn’t keep manual skills sharp.
Medicine is seeing a version of it. At four Polish endoscopy centers, doctors’ detection rate in colonoscopies done without AI fell from 28.4% to 22.4% in the months after AI assistance arrived. It’s one observational study, and its authors’ university calls the result hypothesis-generating. Treat it as a warning, and do the core of your job yourself from time to time.
Responsible use includes using AI where it helps. When 20,000 UK civil servants tried an AI assistant in their office software, they reported saving 26 minutes a day on average, and 82% didn’t want to go back. A smaller evaluation in one department found faster, better report summaries and slower, less accurate spreadsheet analysis. Try AI on your real tasks, keep what works and measure it. The case study has the detail.
A prompt before and after improvement, and the part a person does outside the prompt.
Decisions and plans
Before
“What price should we set for the new product?”
After
“I think €49 a month is right because [your reasoning], based on this data [data]. Where is my reasoning weakest, and what am I missing?”
Your part
Decide, and write down anything that changed your mind.
Why it works: Starting from your own view turns AI into a sparring partner and keeps the judgment yours.
Learning
Before
“Build the pivot table analysis for me.”
After
“Walk me through building a pivot table of sales by region and month, one step at a time. After each step, ask me what I expect to see before you show the result.”
Your part
Do the steps yourself in your own spreadsheet. Next time, try it without help first.
Why it works: Predicting each result before you see it helps the skill stick.
Writing
Before
“Write our Q1 marketing strategy.”
After
“Here is my outline for our Q1 marketing strategy: three priorities and why. Challenge each priority, suggest what’s missing and point out where I’m vague.”
Your part
Keep the strategy yours. Use the challenges to sharpen it, and write the final version yourself.
Why it works: You end up with your own strategy, tested before anyone else sees it.
Protect time for people to practice core skills, and pair junior colleagues’ AI-assisted work with a short review conversation: what did you ask, what did you change and what would you do differently?
Team toolTeam AI charterWhat each source establishes, and its limits. The practices and recommendations on this page are ours, and the facts come from the sources. See every source we use.
Founderz (2026). Principle 5: Independent judgment and skills. The RUAI Standard, 2026 edition. Developed by Founderz in collaboration with Microsoft. https://responsibleai.founderz.com/toolkit/principles/independent-judgment
Licensed under CC BY 4.0: share and adapt with attribution.