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The paper calls for global debate to ensure AI enhances-rather than diminishes-uniquely human strengths in an increasingly automated world
STAMFORD, CT --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 20.01.2026 --
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) today released a new white paper, "Human Cognition: The Next Frontier?", inviting leaders across business, policy, and academia to join a global conversation on the evolving role of human cognition as artificial intelligence transforms work, society, and the economy.
The white paper explores how human capabilities such as - critical thinking, creativity and adaptability - are poised to become the "superskill" of the future, driving progress in an era of human-machine collaboration. As AI automates routine tasks and augments knowledge work, PMI argues that nurturing and protecting cognitive capacity will be essential for organizations seeking to remain resilient and relevant. Where once technology often automated labor-intensive jobs in the quest to improve productivity, now, as intelligent systems take on more cognitive work, organizations must rethink how they develop and protect the human mind itself.
"In our strategic shift toward a smoke-free future, we learned that technology helps us move faster - but real progress depends on people. Change isn't just about scientific and technological advances; it's about vision, ambition, and how people apply innovations. A decade ago, we were a cigarette company, and now our smoke-free products are available in 100 markets and account for 41% of our net revenuesi," said Moira Gilchrist, Chief Global Communications Officer, PMI. "That journey was powered by curiosity, creativity, and the courage to challenge assumptions. If we treat cognition like the scarce resource that it is and use AI to enhance - not replace - human strengths, organizations will make better decisions, and society will be more resilient in the AI era."
The white paper highlights the need to protect human cognition in the era of AI, outlining a set of accelerating cognitive risks that will shape whether society benefits from AI or becomes overwhelmed by it:
- Cognitive atrophy: As generative AI increasingly automates ideation, drafting, and analysis, people risk losing the "productive struggle" that once strengthened deep thinking, originality, and independent judgment. When machines do more of the mental heavy lifting, human cognitive muscles can quietly weaken.
- Attention erosion: An always on digital environment - notifications, feeds, dashboards, and synthetic content - fragments focus and pull people into shallow processing. This erosion of sustained attention undermines decision quality, critical reasoning, and the ability to engage with complex problems.
- The emerging cognitive divide: Access to time, focus, and advanced learning is becoming uneven. As cognitive demands rise, these advantages increasingly risk becoming privileges. Without intervention, socioeconomic divides could harden into a cognitive inequality gap, determining who can thrive in an AI-mediated world.
- Trust and verification challenges: The proliferation of synthetic media and deepfakes threatens public confidence in information itself. Navigating this landscape requires new habits of verification, lateral reading, and digital skepticism - skills that are becoming foundational to civic participation and organizational decision-making.
PMI's commitment to fostering dialogue on these issues reflects the reality that today it is a changed company, as the company pursues a vision of a smoke-free future and invests in continuous learning and new capabilities for its workforce, aiming to be predominantly smoke-free by 2030.
Philip Morris International: A Global Smoke-Free Champion
Philip Morris International is a leading international consumer goods company, actively delivering a smoke-free future and evolving its portfolio for the long term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's current product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, nicotine pouch and e-vapor products. Our smoke-free products are available for sale in over 100 markets, and as of June 30, 2025 PMI estimates they were used by over 41 million legal-age consumers around the world, many of whom have moved away from cigarettes or significantly reduced their consumption. The smoke-free business accounted for 41% of PMI's first-nine months 2025 total net revenues. Since 2008, PMI has invested over $14 billion to develop, scientifically substantiate and commercialize innovative smoke-free products for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, with the goal of completely ending the sale of cigarettes. This includes the building of world-class scientific assessment capabilities, notably in the areas of pre-clinical systems toxicology, clinical and behavioral research, as well as post-market studies. Following a robust science-based review, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the marketing of Swedish Match's General snus and ZYN nicotine pouches and versions of PMI's IQOS devices and consumables - the first-ever such authorizations in their respective categories. Versions of IQOS devices and consumables and General snus also obtained the first-ever Modified Risk Tobacco Product authorizations from the FDA. With a strong foundation and significant expertise in life sciences, PMI has a long-term ambition to expand into wellness and healthcare areas and aims to enhance life through the delivery of seamless health experiences. References to "PMI", "we", "our" and "us" mean Philip Morris International Inc., and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com.
i As of September 30, 2025.
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Philip Morris International
Radoslav Hristov
T. +41 (76) 394 4566
E. radoslav.hristov@pmi.com
