There is a case to be made for developing technological competence (with generative artificial intelligence and related technological tools) for working in the 21^st Century; “graduates with greater mastery of AI tools report greater job placement”.¹ However, there is a growing case for safeguarding analogue-led processes, including the skills developed through long form reading, such as critical analysis.

Crucial wondering

One study argues that “a decline in deep studying can immediately impair the raw fabric wished for crucial wondering. This in turn cripples trouble-solving … Promoting AI literacy and metacognitive awareness is necessary to ensure that technology serves as a catalyst for cognitive growth, not a crutch for cognitive decline.”²

We are seeing graduate employers become wise to recent graduates who have deferred their critical thinking and problem solving skills to generative artificial intelligence.

Exploring how this is affecting graduate jobs, we found one employer (within the area of law) who has their own generative artificial intelligence tool for use within case law, who has found the recent graduates they have employed can be divided into two categories; those who have used generative artificial intelligence tools to complete their university studies and those who didn’t. With the latter, continuing to think for themselves and in doing so develop and retain their critical thinking skills.

The law firm in question has found that the former graduates are the ones who now find themselves struggling in the world of work, as they deferred their ability to think critically to generative artificial intelligence. Being able to use generative artificial intelligence alone isn’t enough for these graduates to work and compete within the arena they find themselves in.

Emerging studies³ support this anecdotal example, with growing numbers of reports from recruiters⁴, graduate employers⁵, educationalists⁶ and neuroscientists⁷ as to the wider impact of recent technology, not only on how we develop but how we also engage with the world of work⁸ (as the current generation matures into the work place and transitions from education). 

Recruitment

Generative artificial intelligence is affecting not only wider skill acquisition and retention but, also misrepresentation of actual abilities. Greg Fuller, VP of Skillsoft Codecademy says “concerns around students falling short in work readiness and potentially overselling themselves through the use of AI highlight a critical moment for both the education system and employers. … Technology literacy must become a core element of both education and talent development strategies. … But technical knowledge isn’t enough. To succeed in today’s workplace, individuals also need strong communication and interpersonal skills and power skills, such as critical thinking, curiosity, experimentation and resilience.”⁹   

These wider skills and qualities are at risk of erosion by generative artificial intelligence¹⁰, combined with a lack of opportunity for young people to hone their interpersonal skills due to rigid curriculum models in some schools, colleges and universities, which fail to mirror the ambiguity and challenges of the real world. Combined with fewer Saturday jobs¹¹ and a reduction in youth centres¹², our students are at risk in the developing job market. As educationalists we need to (in equal parts) equip students to use generative artificial intelligence as a tool judiciously, whilst also protecting their ability to think critically.

Complexity

In a recent Forbes article Melissa Daimler writes “we’ve lost the ability to sit with complexity, the very skill our roles demand… Neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf describes what she calls the “shallowing hypothesis”: digital media weakens our deep reading circuits… we risk outsourcing the very thinking those tools are supposed to support. Reading is how we build the cognitive muscle to evaluate, question, and synthesize. Without it, we become editors of AI output rather than original thinkers.”¹³

In an age of strife and dislocation (some caused by the threat of technology¹⁴), the need for original thought to solve the problems we are facing globally matters more than ever.

The added benefits of deeper reading go beyond making ourselves more employable “deep reading can be an effective way to counter misinformation as well as reduce stress and loneliness. It can be tough to go deeper than a speedy skim”¹⁵ but, arguably, worth it on so many different levels.

Those of us already employed are just as likely to be affected, according to some of the latest reports. “The skills that leaders consider most critical to long-term performance—such as judgment and decision making, problem understanding and framing, and creative thinking—are most at risk due to AI deskilling. Leaders who are addressing this risk are rethinking how their organization uses AI, redesigning workflows and performance systems, and incorporating skill replenishment into everyday work.”¹⁶

What can we do?

We can’t assume that every student has equal access to technology and opportunities to engage with generative artificial intelligence; remaining mindful of the risks of digital poverty and how these can affect life chances. Equally important is ensuring that attention is paid to how over-reliance on digital tools affect critical thinking and curiosity, alongside creativity and problem solving.

On one hand we need to train students to use the technological tools which are to hand, whilst, with the other, make space within education settings and at home for deep reading and activities which strengthen interpersonal skills and self-confidence.

Whilst doing so we need to make the case clearly for the benefits to students, in terms of employability as well as neurological development.  

Upskilling for technology can occur within education settings who are pivoting to accommodate, yet also through MOOCs such as “self-paced options on Coursera, edX, and Google’s AI Learning Hub can help … understand the basics without any technical background.”¹⁷

Alongside this, there is the case for working with those we support to understand how our brains work. Such as highlighting the importance of creating space for boredom¹⁸ to aid problem solving and creativity¹⁹. In many ways we should be saying to our young people “get bored, get creative “ or “get bored and start solving problems”.

Equity

As stated in the Wonke article by Richard Brown “it is what happens outside the classroom – work experience, placements, membership of clubs and societies, studying overseas – that has the most impact, whether based on students’ self-assessments, or longitudinal studies looking at graduate employment rates and types. The complication is that these activities are not available to or taken up by all students equally. Students from poorer backgrounds are less likely to participate – partly a matter of cost, but also a matter of feeling, or being made to feel, that you don’t belong. In this way, there is a risk that the very activities that best boost employability are least accessible to those who need them most.”²⁰

The recently updated statutory guidance for careers guidance leans into this, with a focus on work experience²¹. As a society, we need to consider how we enable young people to engage with these wider activities that help them develop value both for employers and themselves, with a focus on those furthest removed from these activities.

Meaningful work experience and wider activities shouldn’t be dependent upon how well your parents or carers are connected, if we believe in an equitable society that lifts up those who face the greatest barriers to success.  

Vocational roles

It is not just the graduate jobs that face technological challenges. Similar can also be said of some vocational roles. One of my friends who understands joinery stands apart from more recently trained joiners. Those who are newly qualified can only create their curved wooden arches if using a CNC machine²²; they don’t have the skills to create bespoke joinery without the technology. For my friend this is a shock, as he sees foundational skills being eroded by an over reliance on technology. 

Ease of use, cost effectiveness and speed run roughshod over quality and time honoured craft techniques. Arguably, my friend is working for a different clientele who will pay more for the handcrafted workmanship (which takes longer), whereas the younger newly-qualified joiners are currently producing mass produced pieces for new homes.

However, the young person in school or college who dreams of mastery of their craft may face a rude wake up call if where they are learning their trade no longer teaches the traditional craft aspects.

Career development professionals

As Career Development Professionals we need to be aware of the disparity with graduate and vocational roles. How technology affects our acquisition of skills and then, consequently, the areas where we can then work (unless we seek to retrain later which may cost us).

Angela Duckworth, in her latest work, talks of situation alongside grit²³ as being vital for career success (especially in our early careers). Where we learn and develop, alongside who our mentors are within the workplace, matters.

How we think, the situation in which we think (physically and virtually) is important not just for our careers but for life.  

Ross Pomeroy states in his article “Critical thinking can seem nebulous and insignificant, but that impression couldn’t be farther from reality. For example, when you compare different loan terms for a house or scrutinize car insurance rates, you’re thinking critically. When you dig into the meaning of a poem, book, or work of art, you’re thinking critically. When you plan out your busy day to be optimally time efficient, you’re thinking critically.”²⁴

From business and day-to-day work, through to gleaning the truth from the news, we lose our critical thinking skills at our peril. We become one step away from becoming passive consumers of a lifeless algorithm, where all the choices in life have been made for us, as we defer responsibility, creativity and accountability as well as meaning. We, in effect, come to inhabit a life which is less. 

We lose something along the way, a deeper sense of culture and identity. Critical thinking skills are not just important because they make us more employable, but also these skills affect how we see and live life.

Studying, immersing ourselves and critically analysing, whether through the sciences, technology, vocational subjects, modern foreign Language, history, philosophy & ethics, English, art, music, drama (and all the others) provides us with a set of foundational knowledge and sense of reality that underpins who we are and how we interact with the world. Through whichever subject or contextual lens we learn, we build transferable skills which make us employable and bring joy to our lives.

The recent criticism of “mickey mouse”²⁵ degrees shouldn’t see varying degree subjects modelled purely on the financial return that different courses claim, nor even the more nuanced data that we see²⁶. We can ask: do these subjects and universities equip our students with the ability to think critically, including when to use generative artificial intelligence and when (and how) to retain and maintain their abilities to think? 

As an Art graduate of the early 2000s, the critical thinking skills I was equipped with and continued to develop have enabled me to have a long and fulling career, by transferring these skills to another area from that which I studied (which many students go on to do²⁷). Let’s safeguard the future of the next generation of graduates, by ensuring they too develop the critical thinking skills they need for their lives. 

Such knowledge and skills enable us to remain authors of our own narratives, captains of our own potential and in control of our own ways of seeing, feeling and being. 

© Chris Targett, July 2026

The views expressed in this article are entirely the authors and do not necessarily express those of his employer.

1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12307348 ↩︎
2. https://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/article/10.11648/j.ajeit.20250902.12 and https://www.ie.edu/center-for-health-and-well-being/blog/ais-cognitive-implications-the-decline-of-our-thinking-skills  ↩︎
3. https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-ai-generation-will-need-more-explicit-preparation-for-graduate-employment and https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/new-study-reveals-early-impact-of-ai-on-job-market-in-uk ↩︎
4. https://www.naceweb.org/career-development/best-practices/how-students-should-not-use-generative-ai-in-the-job-search ↩︎
5. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg33nwy9llo  ↩︎
6. https://www.coventry.ac.uk/news/2026/opinion-ai-degrees ↩︎
7. https://time.com/7295195/ai-chatgpt-google-learning-school ↩︎
8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55932977 ↩︎
9. https://www.fenews.co.uk/skills/half-of-employers-concerned-student-use-of-ai-is-misrepresenting-skills/ ↩︎
10. https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1958622/half-gen-z-say-relying-ai-making-less-intelligent-survey-finds ↩︎
11. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/may/27/neets-could-hit-125m-by-early-2030s-milburn-review-young-people-employment-uk ↩︎
12. https://www.plinth.org.uk/debates/youth-services-decimation ↩︎
13. https://www.forbes.com/sites/melissadaimler/2026/01/15/ai-cant-replace-critical-thinking-reading-is-how-you-build-it/ ↩︎
14. https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1919752/one-10-graduates-pivot-careers-fears-ai-job-disruption-survey-finds ↩︎
15. https://theconversation.com/deep-reading-can-boost-your-critical-thinking-and-help-you-resist-misinformation-heres-how-to-build-the-skill-268082 ↩︎
16. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2026/when-everyone-uses-ai-companies-risk-critical-skills ↩︎
17. https://www.stjohns.edu/news-media/johnnies-blog/ai-impact-students-entering-job-market ↩︎
18. https://www.kenhughes.info/how-smartphones-are-killing-creativity-the-link-between-boredom-and-curiosity ↩︎
19. https://time.com/5480002/benefits-of-boredom ↩︎
20. https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-ai-generation-will-need-more-explicit-preparation-for-graduate-employment ↩︎
21. https://www.thecdi.net/news/dfe-publishes-updated-statutory-guidance-for-careers-provision ↩︎
22. https://ncfurnitureschool.com/2025/07/22/beginners-guide-to-cnc-woodworking-machines ↩︎
23. https://community.thriveglobal.com/situationally-angela-duckworth-on-turning-grit-and-circumstance-into-success/ ↩︎
24. https://bigthink.com/thinking/artificial-intelligence-critical-thinking/ ↩︎
25. https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/curbing-the-mickey-mouse-degrees ↩︎
26. https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/what-do-graduates-do ↩︎
27. https://www.cxk.org/blog/blog-what-is-the-shape-of and https://www.cxk.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/The-80-Rule-1.pdf ↩︎