- Generative AI is being deeply integrated into daily work, from brainstorming and exploring options to summarizing information and accelerating project timelines.
- Despite expectations to boost creativity, a Gallup survey shows that only 26% of employees using GenAI feel an improvement in their creative abilities.
- A study published in January 2026 indicates that AI only truly enhances creativity for a specific group of employees, not everyone.
- The key factor is metacognition—the ability to plan, monitor, evaluate, and adjust one’s own thinking process.
- Generative AI helps expand knowledge by providing large amounts of information in a short time, supporting interdisciplinary idea synthesis.
- AI also helps free up cognitive capacity by handling repetitive tasks like summarizing, data processing, and content drafting.
- However, only employees with high metacognition know how to leverage AI to bridge knowledge gaps and manage cognitive load.
- Employees with low metacognition often accept the first answer from AI, rarely checking for accuracy or relevance.
- A field experiment with 250 employees at a tech consulting firm in China showed: AI only increased the novelty and usefulness of ideas in the high-metacognition group.
- For the low-metacognition group, the presence of AI made almost no difference in creativity.
- Results were measured by manager evaluations and independent external judges.
- The research emphasizes: the issue is not whether to use AI, but how people think while using AI.
- Organizations need to simultaneously deploy AI and provide metacognition training for employees.
- Proposed measures include short-term training, thinking checklists, and designing iterative and critical workflows with AI.
- The study also notes limitations: scope within one company, a short duration of one week, and no assessment of long-term impacts.
Conclusion: A study published in January 2026 indicates that AI only truly enhances creativity for a specific group of employees, not all. Only those with strong metacognition can leverage AI to expand knowledge and free up cognitive capacity, thereby creating newer and more useful ideas. Metacognition is the ability to plan, monitor, evaluate, and adjust one’s own thinking process. Low-metacognition employees often accept AI’s first answer without vetting. The issue is not about using AI, but the way of thinking when using it.
