The Silent Skill Drain: How Entry-Level AI Automation Threatens Future Growth
A Hidden Cost of AI Efficiency When AI takes over routine tasks, companies often see immediate productivity gains. Senior staff can accomplish more without relying on juniors, costs go down, and short-term profits rise. But beneath these benefits lies a risk that most boardrooms overlook: the erosion of tacit knowledge—the hands-on expertise that only develops through years of guided practice. Tacit skills aren’t in manuals or knowledge bases. They’re the intuition of a surgeon who adapts mid-procedure, the judgment of a lawyer during negotiations, the troubleshooting instincts of an engineer. These skills pass from experts to novices mainly through direct collaboration on real work. Remove the entry-level work, and you cut the ladder that builds tomorrow’s experts. ...