When an answer appears immediately, some of the work begins after it arrives.
A change in the task
For a CHI 2025 study, Lee and colleagues surveyed 319 knowledge workers, collecting 936 first-hand examples of generative AI use. Their qualitative analysis describes critical thinking shifting toward checking information, integrating responses, and overseeing the task. Original research
The study concerns self-reported experiences. It does not demonstrate that AI causes people to lose their ability to think. That distinction matters when a nuanced finding becomes a dramatic headline.
Questions around an answer
An editorial checklist to try with an AI-assisted draft:
- Which claims need an independent source?
- Which assumptions came from the prompt, and which appeared in the answer?
- What context does the output still need?
- Who can decide whether it is ready to use?
These questions are a suggested practice, not a validated intervention from the study.
The useful reading is that judgment has a location. It can sit in the framing, the verification, the integration, or the decision to stop. Making those moments visible gives them a place in the work.