Protecting human skills is vital as AI advances into the workplace, WSJ Intelligence survey finds

Artificial intelligence can process information, identify patterns, and produce content at extraordinary speed. But speed is not the same as progress. And an answer is not the same as a good decision.

That distinction is emerging as one of the defining business questions of the AI age: as machines become more capable, which human capabilities become more valuable?

New international research from WSJ Intelligence, conducted from February to April 2026 in partnership with Philip Morris International (PMI), points to a compelling answer. The competitive advantage of the future will not come from access to information alone. It will come from the human ability to question it, interpret it, and decide the best response based on many factors that AI will struggle to reliably assess.

The Cognition Index surveyed more than 2,500 business professionals across the U.S., U.K., Italy, South Africa, and Brazil, mapping sentiment from entry-level professionals to C-suite executives. Its findings show that, as AI becomes part of everyday work, people expect distinctly human capabilities including judgment, intuition, empathy, creativity, and critical thinking to become increasingly important.

The human premium

AI is already taking on routine and repeatable tasks, providing a platform for people to devote more time to complex, strategic, and creative work. But realizing that potential requires more than just technological tools; it requires organizations to develop the human capabilities that make those tools useful.

The research found that moral judgment and ethics, along with empathy and trust-building, were considered the capabilities least likely to be replicated by AI, followed by creative thinking and professional intuition. The results suggest that the human edge is not one isolated skill; it is an inimitable combination of conscience, connection, and context.

This matters in practice. When human intuition and AI recommendations conflict, 62 percent of respondents believe people should take the lead over AI in creative work such as branding, campaign development, and product design. Even in market analysis, half said human intuition should have priority.

The human skills we need most are at risk

The study reveals a tension leaders cannot afford to ignore: the human capabilities expected to become most valuable are the most vulnerable to erosion.

Critical thinking tops the list of attributes respondents fear could be eroded or undervalued, followed closely by creative empathy and creativity itself. Emotional intelligence, personal accountability, and ethical judgment are also high on the list. The message is clear: human capabilities will not remain strong simply because we are human. We need to exercise these muscles to maintain a competitive advantage.

This is the paradox at the heart of AI adoption. Technology can create more room for human thought, but overreliance on it can also remove the productive struggle through which people develop original ideas, sound judgment, and intellectual independence.

Use AI without outsourcing thought

Respondents see cognitive atrophy as a practical business risk, not a distant possibility. Twenty-nine percent identified the decline in critical thinking, judgment, and creativity as the biggest risk to human capabilities. Loss of practical skills such as writing and coding ranked second, followed by the spread of AI-generated misinformation.

Those risks point to the need for a more demanding model of AI leadership. People must remain actively involved, asking better questions, testing outputs, spotting what is missing, and accepting responsibility for the final decision.

The desire for a robust approach to AI output is also highlighted by the survey, with only one in four strongly agreeing that their organization has a clear, effective process for fact-checking and verifying AI outputs, highlighting a critical opportunity for building governed human-in-the-loop frameworks.

From AI adoption to human advantage

Organizations have spent significant time asking how quickly they can adopt AI. But the more strategic question may be how they can use it to strengthen the people adopting it.

For PMI, this is not an abstract debate. The company’s transformation has required people to challenge long-held assumptions, acquire new capabilities, and imagine a fundamentally different future. That experience shapes PMI’s view that technology can enable change, but only human agency can make the fundamental decision of change and turn it into meaningful progress.

The organizations that lead in the AI age will invest on both sides of the equation: powerful technology and powerful human thinking. They will use AI to extend people’s capabilities without surrendering judgment to it. They will measure success not only by how much work is automated, but by whether their people become more curious, creative, and capable as a result.

AI can provide more answers than ever before. The human advantage lies in knowing which ones deserve our trust, what they mean, and where our informed instincts should take us next.