The Creativity Tax, Cognitive Decline, and the Illusion of the 1% AI ROI

Are you buying software that isn't paying you back? In this reality-check episode of The Buck Stops Here, David Maples cuts through the Silicon Valley hype to expose the dark side of AI integration in business. Despite billions in enterprise investments, small and medium businesses are seeing a dismal 1% return on investment from AI. Why? Because instead of building better workflows, companies are simply scaling their inefficiencies faster.

Chapter Markers & Timestamps

• [00:00:00] – Introduction: Beyond the AI Hype
• [00:01:25] – The Hard Truth: The 1% AI Return on Investment
• [00:04:15] – Problem 1: The Creativity Tax and Cognitive Decline
• [00:09:45] – 3 Solutions to Protect Human Creativity (Analog Sandbox)
• [00:13:35] – Problem 2: The AI ROI Illusion & Broken Workflows
• [00:15:30] – How to Fix Your AI Workflows (The Human Firewall)
• [00:19:40] – Problem 3: AI Burnout and "Brain Fry"
• [00:22:00] – Solutions for AI Fatigue & Eliminating Tool Sprawl
• [00:26:30] – Final Thoughts: AI is an Engine, Not a Strategy

Resources & Links Mentioned

• Easy Prompter: Eliminate tool sprawl and integrate 37 different AIs into one unified system featuring Brain Trust and Deep Thinking modes. 
• AI, Human Cognition and Knowledge Collapse* by Acemoglu, MIT (2026)
• Automation Bias in Workers* by Mann, UC Berkeley (2026)
• Structural Genericism in Creative Output* by Brevar (2025)
• The Enterprise of AI Playbook*, Stanford University (2026)
• Earnings Impacts from AI* by McClure, Gerdau (2026)
• "Brain Fry"* - Harvard Business Review (2026)
• AI Fatigue and Mental Health Implications* by Sosinski (2026)

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