The Defining Challenge of Responsible AI Is Designing Systems That Preserve Human Judgment When and Where It Counts
MIT Sloan Management Review, Thursday, October 15th, 2026
An MIT SMR-BCG expert panel says responsible AI must design systems that keep trustworthy human judgment available when it matters.
For the fifth year, MIT SMR and BCG polled an international panel of AI experts, this time on whether preserving trustworthy human judgment is the defining challenge of responsible AI.
Sixty-five percent agreed or strongly agreed, 19% disagreed and 15% were neutral, amid research on epistemic de-skilling from AI overreliance.
Panelists diverged on how judgment differs from oversight, but broadly agreed the goal is not to preserve judgment for its own sake.
Instead, organizations should design human-machine systems that keep trustworthy judgment available at critical points, and the article offers practical recommendations.