In this conversation, Mark Sparvelle and Professor Dr. Michael Gerlich discuss the impact of AI on critical thinking and cognitive processes. They explore the concept of cognitive offloading, where individuals rely on AI for decision-making, potentially diminishing their ability to think critically. The discussion highlights the importance of fostering critical thinking in education, the convenience of generative AI, and the need for a balance between efficiency and human skills in the age of AI. Gerlich emphasizes the necessity of training future generations to avoid the confidence trap, where individuals with lower self-confidence are more likely to trust AI outputs without scrutiny.

Prof. Dr. Michael Gerlich, Ph.D., MBA (University of Cambridge) is the Head of Center for Strategic Corporate Foresight and Sustainability / Head of Executive Education and Senior Faculty at SBS Swiss Business School. Besides, his responsibility as Head of Center for Strategic Corporate Foresight and Sustainability he leads the Executive Education Program of SBS. In addition, Prof. Dr. Gerlich teaches several business and management courses in our MBA, Master and Bachelor programs. Besides his teaching activities he supervises DBA students. For more than 25 years, he has worked as an adviser to the President and the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, the Cabinet of Ministers in Uzbekistan and various Ministers for economic affairs in Azerbaijan, in addition to holding leading positions within GIZ / KfW (the German Development Bank) ,the International Finance Corporation and the private sector.