episcope
26 terms

A

Automation biasDeferring to an automated output that is visibly wrong.Mosier and Skitka, 1990s - Peer reviewed
Automation versus augmentationAI as substitute for work, or as extension of it.Brynjolfsson, 2022 - Scholarly essay

B

Blurred accountabilityResponsibility drifting to the machine because of its name.Kropp et al., 2026 - Practitioner article
Brain fryFatigue from supervising AI beyond your capacity.BCG, 2026 - Practitioner article

C

Centaur and CyborgDividing tasks against interleaving them.Dell'Acqua et al., 2023 - Peer reviewed
Cognitive debtJudgment eroding when task and responsibility both go to AI.Kosmyna, 2025 - Preprint
Cognitive new dealEvery AI use is an exchange whose terms go unread.episcope's own
Cognitive offloadingDelegating a mental task to an external tool.Risko and Gilbert, 2016 - Peer reviewed
Cognitive surrenderAccepting AI output with minimal or no scrutiny.Shaw and Nave, 2026 - Preprint
Cognitive taxThe cost paid at the moment of delegation.episcope, 2026 - episcope's own
Creativity as a social dilemmaIndividually rational adoption, collectively worse pool.Doshi and Hauser, 2024 - Peer reviewed
Crossover pointThe accuracy level above which relying on the system helps more than it hurts.Parasuraman and Manzey, 2010 - Peer reviewed

D

Delegation driftHanding over cognitive work a little at a time, without ever deciding to.Kabashkin, 2025 - Preprint
Desirable difficultiesFriction that feels bad and produces durable learning.Bjork, 1994 - Book chapter
Diversity collapseHuman-AI teams producing more homogeneous work.Ju and Aral, 2025 - Preprint

E

Efficiency-gain illusionOverestimating what AI saved you, specifically for AI.Yu et al., 2026 - Preprint

F

Falling asleep at the wheelDisengaging because the AI looks reliable.Dell'Acqua, 2022 - Working paper

I

Irony of automationAutomate the routine, lose the practice, keep the emergency.Bainbridge, 1983 - Peer reviewed

J

Jagged frontierThe invisible line between what AI does well and badly.Dell'Acqua et al., 2023 - Peer reviewed
Joy of Not Automating (or JONA)Keeping something by hand, meaning without AI, because doing is the point.episcope, 2025 - episcope's own

N

Need for cognitionHow much a person enjoys effortful thinking.Cacioppo and Petty, 1982 - Peer reviewed

O

Overreliance feedback loopUsing AI once makes you likelier to use it again, and worse at judging whether you should.Yu et al., 2026 - Preprint

P

Psychological debtSix negative effects of unstructured AI use.Champniss, 2026 - Vendor survey

R

Responsibility gapAccountability delegated alongside the task.Matthias, 2004 - Peer reviewed

S

Scaffolding and substitutionHelp that leaves you able to work without the tool, against help that does the work for you.Wood, Bruner and Ross, 1976 - Peer reviewed

W

WorkslopA polished AI-generated piece that wrongly gives the impression of a job well done.Niederhoffer et al., 2025 - Vendor survey

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