As artificial intelligence becomes woven into the daily decisions of knowledge workers, a study of 452 professionals reveals that trust in these systems is not a simple good — it is a force that simultaneously opens creative possibility and tightens the grip of dependency. Published in Nature, the research finds that the same confidence that empowers workers to innovate also binds them to systems they cannot fully comprehend, generating a measurable strain alongside the gains. The findings suggest that wisdom, not enthusiasm, must guide how organizations introduce AI into human work — because