Artificial intelligence is undeniably transforming the landscape of intellectual labor and social engagement, offering unprecedented ease and efficiency. However, recent research from the University of Toronto highlights a paradox at the heart of this technological revolution: the very friction AI removes—the effort, struggle, and difficulty essential to human growth—may be critical for psychological well-being and meaningful experience. This emerging perspective, detailed in an article published in Communications Psychology, challenges the pervasive narrative that frictionless AI is unambiguously beneficial.
At its core, friction, understood as the experience of effortful engagement and challenge, plays a fundamental role in learning, motivation, and the cultivation of meaning. The University of Toronto scientists caution against the wholesale adoption of AI tools that excise these “desirable difficulties,” contending that the elimination of such friction could inadvertently impair the cognitive and emotional processes that enable humans to grow intellectually and socially. This critique underscores a vital tension between technological advancement and human psychological needs.
Dr. Emily Zohar, the study’s lead author and a doctoral researcher in psychology, articulates the controversy succinctly: AI excels at making difficult tasks effortless. While this represents a leap forward in productivity, it simultaneously risks obviating the very conditions that foster learning and skill acquisition. Effort is not merely an obstacle to be removed but a transformative process that engenders competence and imbues actions with personal significance.
The distinction between beneficial and detrimental friction is central to this discussion. Historically, innovations such as washing machines and power steering alleviated cumbersome, often counterproductive burdens without compromising the cognitive or emotional investments that foster growth. AI’s capacity to remove friction, however, extends beyond these mundane inefficiencies, often nullifying the struggle that underpins mastery and meaning. Cognitive psychology research consistently demonstrates that effortful engagement enhances memory retention, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving, processes potentially circumvented by AI-generated solutions.
Paul Bloom, a prominent co-author and professor of psychology at both Yale University and the University of Toronto, highlights the latent cost of AI’s efficiency: by performing complex cognitive tasks on behalf of users, AI might deprive individuals of opportunities to cultivate essential competencies and self-confidence. The intrinsic value of achievement is closely tied to the struggle that precedes it. Without this, the end result may lack resonance, reducing motivation and diminishing the richness of human experience.
Beyond intellectual labor, AI’s expanding role as a provider of emotional companionship introduces additional psychological complexities. While AI companions can mitigate loneliness, an experience often vilified, the research underscores loneliness’s evolutionary function as a motivational signal. Loneliness drives human beings to seek authentic social bonds, nurturing relationships through shared vulnerability and mutual effort. By smoothing over this compelling cognitive and emotional signal, AI risks weakening the impetus to form genuine human connections, potentially fostering social isolation masked by artificial interaction.
The broader implications of frictionless AI highlight its differential effects across developmental stages and contexts. As the article elaborates, experienced professionals may benefit immensely from AI’s capacity to save time and increase efficiency, effectively amplifying their productivity. Conversely, for individuals still in formative phases—such as students or early-career professionals—the premature removal of friction could undermine the acquisition of foundational skills and the consolidation of meaningful learning experiences. Educational paradigms that continue to require students to “show their work” exemplify a recognition that engagement with the problem-solving process is indispensable, even in an era of pervasive computational assistance.
Michael Inzlicht, a senior co-author and professor of psychology, emphasizes that the real issue lies not in the existence of AI itself but in humanity’s approach to integrating it. Ethical and mindful assimilation of AI tools promises the opportunity to harness their benefits without compromising the friction that cultivates growth, meaning, and connection. The article advocates for a measured, reflective incorporation of AI technology—one that preserves the challenges and effort integral to human development.
The researchers’ insights mark a crucial intervention in ongoing dialogues about the future of work, learning, and social interaction in an AI-pervasive world. They invite reflection on how society might balance the seductive convenience of frictionless technology with the irreplaceable psychological and social functions of struggle, loneliness, and exertion. Rather than rushing toward an idealized, frictionless future, it is imperative to recognize that some forms of friction are not merely obstacles but also essential ingredients in the fabric of human experience.
This nuanced perspective demands a sophisticated understanding of the interplay between technology and human psychology, one that eschews simplistic progress narratives in favor of empathetic, evidence-based policies and practices. As AI continues to redefine boundaries, educators, policymakers, and technologists alike must grapple with preserving the conditions that foster genuine competence, motivation, and social cohesion. The challenge is to develop AI systems and frameworks that support human flourishing holistically rather than supplanting the effortful processes that make us uniquely human.
Long-term consequences of frictionless AI adoption remain uncertain, prompting calls for further interdisciplinary research. Understanding how AI-induced changes in cognitive workload and social signaling affect human development over decades will be critical. Until then, the precautionary principle urges caution in embracing AI’s capacity to smooth away all challenges without discriminating between those that are harmful and those that are fundamental for growth.
In sum, the University of Toronto researchers provide a timely and compelling counterpoint to the prevailing enthusiasm surrounding AI’s frictionless promise. Their work underscores the importance of friction as a catalyst for learning, motivation, and meaningful relationship building. By advocating for a balanced integration of AI that preserves essential struggles, their research challenges society to rethink its relationship with technology in ways that safeguard the psychological underpinnings of human dignity and fulfillment.
Subject of Research: The psychological and social implications of AI’s removal of effortful friction in intellectual work and relationships
Article Title: Against Frictionless AI
News Publication Date: 24-Feb-2026
Web References:
10.1038/s44271-026-00402-1
Keywords
Artificial intelligence, frictionless technology, learning and motivation, psychological effort, social connection, loneliness, cognitive development, human-AI interaction, skill acquisition, meaningful experience
Tags: AI and intellectual labor transformationAI and psychological well-beingAI effects on motivation and meaningchallenges in AI-assisted learningcognitive processes and AI technologydesirable difficulties in educationfrictionless AI impact on learninghuman-AI interaction and developmentpsychological critique of frictionless AIrole of effort in human growthsocial engagement and AI toolsUniversity of Toronto AI research
