You probably do yoga, run, dance or play a sport to keep yourself healthy, fit and flexible. But what about your brain - do you optimise your cognitive flexibility too?

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Cognitive flexibility is the brain’s ability to adapt, see new opportunities and keep us up to speed with whatever life throws at us.  Strong cognitive flexibility means you can take on new roles, adapt to different ways of working  or explore new markets. This is business survival in the 21st century - this is learning.

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We have plenty of evidence that our attention spans are shorter, memories are weaker and we’re less emotionally engaged because of digital technology. The impact of AI on our brains is still in its infancy and the available research is somewhat contradictory.

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GenAI may actually enhance our mental flexibility because it’s a novel and complex way of working and our neuroplastic brains respond actively to both. Information isn’t just delivered with AI; we can question it, explore ideas and challenge our assumptions which is a great work out for our brains.

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On the other hand, research with students shows that over-reliance on AI has a negative impact on their cognitive flexibility. Despite being aware of the biases and ethical issues of AI, students seem to prefer fast solutions over slower ones. They don’t  take the time to challenge or validate the responses, leading to poorer decision making and subsequent errors.

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Work pressures make it equally tempting for us to accept the first quick solution from AI, but we need to keep the human in the loop and flex our cognitive skills to ensure we find the most appropriate solutions, not just the fastest.

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To remain cognitively flexible, prioritise brain exercise along with physical exercise in your organisation.

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Try these cognitive flexibility exercises you can do on your own, or work out alongside GenAI.  Treat it like going to the gym - and if you need a personal brain trainer give us a call.

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• ‘Perspective switching’ - look at problems from multiple points of view. Write out pros and cons of a decision and then compare with GenAI answers.
• Generate your own solutions to a problem first - then ask GenAI for alternative options. This can reveal your own biases which is bonus learning.
• Role-play is regularly used in training to practice skills and see other points of view before applying new skills for real. Ask GenAI to role play a challenging conversation with you - give it some parameters about who you want it to be and let the conversation begin. You might be surprised at the workout you get because AI never gets bored, criticises or storms out in anger.

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Take a look at how our Stellar Labs upskilling platform promotes cognitive flexibility with discussion boards, surveys, scenarios, activities, practical exercises and collaboration. Book a demo today

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Sources:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-digital-self/202410/llmology-exploring-the-cognitive-frontier-of-ai

https://slejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40561-024-00316-7

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