AI Impact on Cognition and the Future of Critical Thinking
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Ross Morrison McGill founded @TeacherToolkit in 2007, and today, he is one of the ‘most followed educators’on social media in the world. In 2015, he was nominated as one of the ‘500 Most Influential People in Britain’ by The Sunday Times as a result of…
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Is artificial intelligence making students less able to think for themselves?
The findings revealed in this research suggest a significant negative correlation between frequent AI tool usage and critical thinking abilities.
Are AI tools making students think less?
This new research, AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking (Gerlich, 2025) examines the effects of AI tools on critical thinking, revealing that students (n = 666) who frequently use AI for decision-making and problem-solving demonstrate lower critical thinking scores.
The reason? Cognitive offloading — when thinking is outsourced to technology instead of being developed independently.
Younger students (17-25) in the study showed the highest AI dependence and the lowest critical thinking skills.
This study found that over-reliance on AI tools may be reducing engagement in deep thinking tasks, raising important questions for teachers. While these tools promise efficiency and personalised learning, this research suggests they are weakening students’ ability to think.
Balancing AI and deep thinking in the classroom
Crucially, students with higher education levels maintained stronger critical thinking abilities even when using AI. This suggests that how students use AI is more important than whether they use it at all.
Critical thinking is fundamental for problem-solving, academic success, and life beyond the classroom. But if students rely on AI-generated answers without questioning them, what happens to independent thought?
This study found that AI encourages passive learning — students consume information rather than create it. Younger students who used AI tools showed the highest reliance and lowest critical thinking scores. Meanwhile, older participants (46+) used AI less and demonstrated stronger analytical skills.
If AI replaces deep thinking, the workforce of tomorrow may struggle with problem-solving, decision-making, and creativity, and this poses a significant long-term problem for schools and industry. AI can be a powerful tool, but only if students engage critically with it.
Five ways teachers can balance AI with learning:
- Encourage scepticism: Teach students to challenge AI outputs. Ask: Is this accurate? What bias might exist?
- Develop cognitive resilience: Make students solve problems independently before using AI for verification.
- Use deep thinking tasks: Structured debates and problem-solving activities keep students engaged.
- Teach AI literacy: Help students understand how AI works, its limitations, and its impact on knowledge.
- Model critical thinking: Show students how to cross-check AI-generated information using multiple sources.
Reflection questions for teachers
- How often do students in the classroom rely on AI tools for research or writing?
- Do students critically evaluate AI-generated answers, or accept them without question?
- What strategies can help students think independently rather than offload thinking to AI?
- How can AI be used to develop—not replace—critical thinking skills?
- Should AI literacy be a core part of the school curriculum?
- What types of assessment can discourage AI dependence and promote independent thought?
- Are younger students more at risk of cognitive offloading than older students?
- How can formative assessment strategies ensure AI is used responsibly in learning?
- What role should teachers play in shaping ethical AI use in education?
- What are the long-term consequences of AI replacing independent thinking?
The research concludes
Younger participants who exhibited higher dependence on AI tools scored lower in critical thinking compared to their older counterparts.
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