# The best AI users don't outsource thinking > Source: > Published: 2026-07-23 22:58:08+00:00 AI doesn't automatically translate into better work. But using it intentionally can. A new [study](https://hbr.org/2026/07/research-why-some-junior-employees-work-well-with-ai-and-others-dont?ab=HP-hero-latest-1) between KPMG and the University of Texas at Austin found that early-career professionals produced the strongest results when they treated AI as a thinking partner, rather than simply outsourcing work to it. Researchers found that workers who used AI to interrogate their work, challenge assumptions, and iterate on results outperformed AI on its own, revealing the limitations of passive AI usage. Researchers gave 523 early-career professionals access to an AI agent and asked them to complete role-specific tasks. They then evaluated participants based on both the quality of their work and how they interacted with the AI system, comparing their performance against the AI's standalone output. - The researchers identified three distinct approaches to using AI. Half of the participants were classified as "AI amplifiers," who actively steered AI throughout the task. As a group, they produced work that outperformed the AI baseline. - The other two groups saw weaker results. "AI delegators," who accepted AI's suggestions with little scrutiny, performed about as well as the AI working alone. "AI apprentices," who engaged critically with AI but often redirected it toward weaker answers, scored below the AI baseline. - The findings suggest that foundational skills, defined in the study as critical thinking, domain knowledge, and AI literacy, remain essential to effective workplaces. But they aren't what separates the highest performers. "We weren't simply looking for people who knew how to use AI," Ashish Agarwal, professor at The University of Texas at Austin and co-author of the study, said in a [release](https://kpmg.com/us/en/media/news/shaping-early-career-success-in-the-age-of-ai.html). "We wanted to understand what enables some individuals to consistently create value beyond what AI can produce on its own." Workers who paired those skills with deliberate AI collaboration consistently produced the strongest results. It’s a takeaway that researchers suggest companies must consider if they’re looking to reap the benefits of AI. "This is the most AI-native generation entering the workforce," Rahsaan Shears, who leads AI enterprise transformation at KPMG US, said in the release. "If fluency with the tools isn't what sets the top performers apart, that tells us something about our entire workforce." ## Our Deeper *View* Using AI with deliberate intention may be what separates quality work from slop. As companies increasingly mandate employees use AI to boost productivity, emerging research suggests the technology can backfire when used poorly. In some cases, AI is creating extra work as employees teach themselves how to use it and spend additional time correcting inaccurate or incomplete outputs. At the same time, some workers are becoming overreliant on AI to complete tasks, raising concerns about deskilling and the erosion of critical thinking and human judgment. It's difficult to pinpoint the threshold that constitutes responsible AI use. But if companies insist employees incorporate AI into their work, they must be equally invested in helping them use it well. That means developing training that strengthens the human skills that make AI most effective.