AI was supposed to make work easier. Instead, it may be changing something far more fundamental: how people learn to work with other people.
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in everyday jobs, employees can now outsource everything from drafting emails and résumés to brainstorming ideas, summarizing information, and preparing for difficult conversations. The productivity gains can be real—but there is a less obvious risk hiding underneath the convenience.
What happens when workers stop practicing the skills that cannot simply be automated?
Communication. Listening. Negotiation. Reading a room. Handling disagreement. Building trust with a client. Knowing when an idea needs to be challenged rather than applauded.
Protocol expert Pamela Eyring, president of the Protocol School of Washington, argues that companies could be overlooking these so-called “power skills” as they race to adopt AI. Her concern is not that AI exists, but that employees may increasingly choose a chatbot over a colleague because the chatbot is faster, more available—and far less likely to push back.
That creates an uncomfortable paradox: the technology designed to make employees more effective could, if relied on too heavily, weaken some of the very human abilities that make employees valuable.
The problem could become even more significant for younger workers. Remote and hybrid work have already reduced many of the informal interactions through which employees once learned workplace etiquette, observed experienced colleagues and received spontaneous coaching. If AI becomes the next layer between employees and those human interactions, there may be fewer opportunities to develop those skills naturally.
And for businesses, this isn't simply about office culture. A customer may appreciate a fast automated response—but when a problem becomes complicated, emotional or highly personal, they may still want a human being who understands the situation and can make a judgment.
That raises a provocative question for the AI-powered workplace:
If AI becomes better at helping us communicate, think and work faster—but worse at teaching us how to communicate, think and work with each other—are we actually becoming more productive, or are we slowly automating away the human skills that made us valuable in the first place?