As published in LinkedIn on 11 March, 2026
There is a growing concern among educators that generative AI may be contributing to a decline in key skills the have been taught in school for decades such as writing, problem-solving, critical thinking, and even basic persistence.
When students can generate essays, summaries, code, images and even video content in seconds using a range of generative AI tools, it’s natural to ask an important question:
What happens to the skills we used to teach explicitly?
Some educators worry that students may begin outsourcing their thinking rather than developing it. Others are concerned that AI may create shortcuts that bypass learning rather than supporting it. There is also a fear that foundational skills could be skipped instead of strengthened.
However, it is worth acknowledging that many of these challenges existed long before generative AI appeared.
Students were already:
- Googling instead of researching
- Memorising for tests rather than building deep understanding
- Completing tasks for marks rather than meaning
Research into student learning has long suggested that traditional task design can sometimes prioritise completion over thinking (Hattie, 2009; Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). In many ways, generative AI has not created these issues, it has simply made them more visible.
So perhaps instead of trying to stop students from using AI, we should be asking:
What skills matter most in an AI-rich world?
Because the most important skills going forward are not the ones AI can easily replicate. They are the distinctly human capabilities that technology struggles to replace.
Skills That Matter in an AI-Rich World
To thrive in a world shaped by AI, students will need to develop a range of higher-order capabilities including:
Critical thinking
They must generate original ideas, explore possibilities, and make connections across disciplines.
Judgement
Students need to know when AI tools are helpful, when they are misleading, and when independent thinking is required.
Ethical reasoning
Issues of authorship, responsibility, bias, and academic integrity are becoming increasingly important.
Communication
Explaining ideas clearly, persuasively, and authentically remains a core human capability.
Meta-cognition
Perhaps most importantly, students need to learn how to learn and develop the ability to adapt as tools, contexts, and problems change.
Research consistently shows that these skills are central to effective learning and long-term success (OECD, 2019; Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012).
Rather than disappearing because of AI, these capabilities are becoming more important.
What Employers Are Saying About Future Skills
For nearly a decade, the World Economic Forum has been tracking how work is changing through its Future of Jobs reports. These reports survey hundreds of global employers across industries to identify which skills are becoming most important in the workforce.
Across multiple reports spanning almost ten years, creativity remains one of the top five most important transferable skills for the future workforce (World Economic Forum, 2016; 2020; 2023).
Importantly, creativity in this context does not simply mean artistic expression.
It refers to the ability to:
- Generate new ideas
- Solve unfamiliar problems
- Make connections across fields
- Adapt when there is no clear solution
In other words, creativity reflects the type of thinking required in a complex and uncertain world. And in a world increasingly shaped by automation and generative AI, the value of these human capabilities is rising.
As machines become more capable of routine tasks such as writing, calculating, summarising and predicting, the human ability to interpret, question, and create meaning becomes more valuable.
AI can generate outputs. But it cannot decide what matters to humans
What This Means for Schools
If creativity and critical thinking are essential future skills, they cannot be treated as optional extras. They cannot exist only in electives, enrichment programs, or occasional projects.
Instead, they need to be developed across the curriculum in science, mathematics, humanities, technology, and the arts.
This does not mean abandoning curriculum standards or content knowledge. Rather, it means designing learning experiences that:
- Allow multiple possible solutions
- Value the thinking process as much as the final product
- Encourage curiosity, experimentation, and reflection
- Give students opportunities to make decisions and justify their reasoning
Research on deeper learning highlights that meaningful learning occurs when students engage in complex thinking, problem-solving, and authentic tasks (Fullan, Quinn & McEachen, 2018).
Creativity is not about lowering expectations. It is about raising the quality of thinking we ask students to do.
The Role of Educators
Generative AI does not necessarily mean the loss of important skills. But it does force us to be more intentional about the capabilities we prioritise.
The role of educators is not to compete with AI. It is to cultivate the human capabilities that give learning meaning. Because in the future, the most valuable skill may not be knowing the answer. It may be knowing:
- what questions to ask,
- what information to trust, and
- what truly matters.
Most of the content in this article is covered in more depth as part of The Human Advantage course (Part 1), now available via Leon Furze site – https://practicalaistrategies.com/
Please share this course with your colleagues and school leaders.
Invite Dr Tim Kitchen to your school …
With more than three decades in education, including 23 years in the classroom and 13 years as Adobe’s Senior Education Specialist for Australia, New Zealand & South East Asia, Tim now runs CTL – Creative Teaching & Learning, an education consultancy supporting schools to implement safe, ethical, and creative AI practices that strengthen teaching and learning.
You can book a teacher &/or student workshop session (online or in-person) with Tim via – https://timkitchen.net/book-tim/
Dr Tim Kitchen 