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Artificial intelligence is changing how people work, communicate, and make decisions—but according to Dean Mercado, that isn’t the real problem. The bigger concern is what happens when humans stop thinking for themselves.

In a recent conversation, Mercado challenged a growing habit he sees among business leaders: outsourcing judgment to technology. While AI continues to improve speed, efficiency, and output, Mercado argued that the real danger lies in what he calls “cognitive offloading”—the slow erosion of critical thinking as people increasingly rely on tools to decide, write, and evaluate for them.

“Is AI making us dumber? I’m just going to flat out say it. Yeah, it is,” Mercado said. “But maybe not the way that most people think.”

Mercado pointed to the 2006 film Idiocracy as an exaggerated—but increasingly uncomfortable—illustration of where unchecked dependence on technology can lead. What started as satire, he said, now feels closer to a warning. The film’s underlying message resonates today: intelligence doesn’t disappear overnight, it withers through neglect.

Over more than 20,000 hours of coaching high-performing entrepreneurs, Mercado said he is already seeing early signs of that decline. “I’m seeing it where clients can’t even write a damn email anymore,” he said. “They have to have AI write it for them because they don’t know what to say. That’s really scary to me.”

Mercado was clear that he is not anti-AI. He uses it daily, teaches it, and helps businesses implement it strategically. The issue, he emphasized, is abdication—not adoption. “If you’re using it to outsource your judgment, not a good thing,” Mercado said. “Why do we need you?”

He described what he calls the “three-phase dumbing down of humanity.” The first phase is laziness, when people let AI handle tasks they could do themselves. The second is dependence, when they feel unable to act without it. The third, and most dangerous phase, is ignorance. “Your dependence turns into ignorance, where you just don’t know how to do anything anymore,” he said.

Mercado compared decision-making and judgment to muscle tissue. Without use, it atrophies. “These are muscles,” he said. “When you fail to exercise a muscle, it starts to wither and die.”

To counter that trend, Mercado outlined a practical framework he uses himself: the 10–80–10 rule. The first 10% of any task must come from human thinking—clarifying goals, defining success, and asking the essential who, what, when, where, why, and how. The next 80% is where AI shines, serving as a thinking partner for brainstorming, refinement, and stress testing. The final 10% belongs to human ownership—editing, refining, and standing behind the final output.

“You’ve got to own it,” Mercado said. “It’s your reputation. It’s your brand. AI doesn’t care if your brand gets damaged.”

In the end, Mercado framed AI not as an enemy, but as a tool that magnifies intention. “Humans do the critical thinking. AI does the heavy lifting,” he said. “That’s the balance.”

As AI becomes more embedded in daily workflows, Mercado’s message is less about fear and more about responsibility. The future, he suggested, will belong to those who know how to use powerful tools without surrendering the very thinking that made them valuable in the first place.