---
id: "entity-michael-polanyi"
type: "entity"
entityType: "person"
canonicalName: "Michael Polanyi"
aliases: ["Polanyi"]
source_timestamps: ["§ What's Different About AI-Era Expertise"]
tags: ["philosophy", "epistemology"]
related: ["concept-tacit-knowledge"]
sources: ["reskilling"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-reskilling"
originDay: 10
articleStem: "hbr-edu-32-help-employees-get-better-with-ai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/help-employees-get-better-not-just-faster-with-ai"
sourceTitle: "Help Employees Get Better—Not Just Faster—with AI"
---
# Michael Polanyi

Michael Polanyi was a scientist-turned-philosopher who coined the term **tacit knowledge** — the experience of *'knowing more than we can tell.'* His canonical reference is the book *Personal Knowledge*.

He is the foundational figure behind the article's account of [[concept-tacit-knowledge-d32|traditional mastery]] as internalized, inarticulable intuition — the very state that AI-era [[concept-reverse-mastery|reverse mastery]] forces professionals to make explicit again. The enrichment overlay confirms this canonical attribution from general knowledge (no supplied search result was needed).