AI‑generated drafts sound polished, so managers replace the first‑line write‑up with a single prompt and a quick approval. The shortcut works because the model supplies the structure, terminology, and even the recommended next steps, freeing senior staff to focus on delivery. What most overlook is the feedback loop that erodes the very expertise the model pretended to augment.

As the model handles more of the thinking, the human mind receives fewer opportunities to practice critical framing, pattern recognition, and persuasive reasoning. In a well‑known consulting practice, junior partners stopped drafting initial outlines themselves after a pilot that fed every proposal through a generative tool; instead they reviewed the output and signed off. Within months the partners reported that they struggled to defend proposals in client meetings without the model’s scaffold, and the firm’s win‑rate slipped despite the faster turnaround.

The paradox is that speed gains are purchased at the price of a collective skill drain, a hidden depreciation that surfaces only when the model is unavailable or when a novel problem falls outside its training data.