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Unanticipated Effects of Generative AI on Expertise Pathways and Performance Perception in System Administration

● high · 2026-08-03generative-ai, professional-training, cognitive-offloading, over-reliance, lifelong-learning, human-in-the-loop, human-ai-collaboration, ai-education

Rana Abou Khamis, Hala Assal, Ashraf Matrawy — arXiv preprint (2026).

Synthesis

Drawing on 14 semi-structured interviews with IT professionals, this study explores how GenAI integration reshapes professional practice in system administration — troubleshooting, scripting, and system verification.

Two unanticipated socio-technical findings: 'compression of traditional expertise pathways' — GenAI acts as both mentor-like tutor and 'ladder-shortening' tool, accelerating unfamiliar-domain task performance while reducing exposure to the foundational build-fail-debug cycles that historically built expertise.

'Performance perception shift': AI-assisted speed resets organizational and self-expectations, creating a 'two-speed culture' within teams and 'productivity guilt' — a metacognitive cost of AI-augmented work.

The findings extend concerns about cognitive offloading and skill decay from classroom settings to professional practice, with implications for professional training programs and workplace learning.

Connected Concepts

  • Human In The Loop AI
  • Student Experience
  • AI Misuse Learning Harm
  • Open Source
  • Over Reliance
  • Critical Thinking
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Student Misconceptions AI

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    • Citation

    Abou Khamis, R., Assal, H., & Matrawy, A. (2026). Unanticipated effects of generative AI on expertise pathways and performance perception in system administration. arXiv:2607.28650.