The Tragedy of the Cognitive Commons: How AI Could Disrupt the Regeneration of Professional Expertise
Summary
This arXiv paper introduces the Cognitive Commons framework to analyze how AI reshapes cognitive work and the regeneration of professional expertise. It distinguishes Internalized Mastery from Distributed Mastery, and argues that rational AI adoption could deplete shared expertise pools, with governance layers spanning organizational, professional, and policy levels. Early evidence from AI-exposed sectors suggests vulnerabilities in expertise development, with implications for HRD theory and workforce policy.