THE LIVING ATLAS

Open question · Working / Expertise

How does working with AI change the expertise we develop?

Doing better with assistance today leaves another question open: what can the person understand, judge or do on a later task?

Open question · no dedicated Atlas answer yet

Question history ↓

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What this question includes

Separate assisted performance from retained skill and transfer to a new situation. The question allows both stronger and weaker ability; neither outcome is assumed.

A possible investigation · not scheduled or tested

Can AI improve your work today without improving your ability tomorrow?

  1. 01Make a first attempt
  2. 02Receive feedback
  3. 03Explain what changed
  4. 04Try a new task

What would count as progress?

  • Compare performance with assistance and later performance without the same support.
  • Distinguish beginners from experienced people where the study design permits it.
  • Keep workplace tasks, languages and education settings visible rather than treating them as interchangeable.

These articles explain parts of the problem. They do not amount to a dedicated answer to this question.

Explainer · 23 October 2026

Better ideas, less variety? →

The article measures produced ideas and their similarity. It does not establish long-term changes in a person’s creative ability.

Four studies · 2024–2026. Includes two preprints; bounded writing and product tasks.

How this question changed

Question versions describe its framing, published contributions and place in the map. Article versions keep their own evidence and history.

Map change · question version 1 · recorded 24 October 2026

Atlas now gives every current article a question home and opens seven further questions with a scope and related reading. Open means no dedicated Atlas answer yet. No new research finding or test is claimed, and existing article-based follows keep their scope.

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