Artificial Intelligence #cognitive debt#ai
Cognitive Debt: New Theory Warns AI Substitution Creates Systemic Fragility
A new paper by Shuchen Meng introduces the concept of 'cognitive debt' — the stock of unverified reasoning obligations accumulated when AI is used as a substitute for first-principles thinking. The model shows rational agents incur debt because costs are deferred, leading to a 'cognitive Minsky moment' where true fragility rises unseen. Six propositions detail how substitutive AI adoption over-deviates from the social optimum, with implications for enterprise risk management.
Jun 16, 2026 1 source