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The question is not simply whether students should use AI, but whether AI can be used in ways that actually help them think more deeply.
The question is not simply whether students should use AI, but whether AI can be used in ways that actually help them think more deeply.
Generative AI has created an interesting tension in education. While AI can provide students with immediate answers, explanations, and solutions, it can also support questioning, feedback, reflection, and deeper thinking.
Under what conditions can AI support the development of critical thinking?
Author-created graphic generated with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2026).
AI can reduce the amount of thinking students are required to do, but it can also encourage students to question, evaluate, explain, and apply their thinking in new situations. The difference depends not only on the AI tool itself, but on how students are asked to use it.
This raises an important question: Who is doing the thinking?
What Does the Research Suggest?
What Does the Research Suggest?
Current research suggests that the impact of AI on critical thinking depends largely on how it is used. AI can encourage students to question ideas, consider different perspectives, receive feedback, and reflect on their thinking. However, when students rely on AI to generate answers or do the thinking for them, they may have fewer opportunities to think deeply and develop their own judgment (Gonsalves, 2026; Larson et al., 2024; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2026).
Offloading cognitive tasks to chatbots may improve performance, however, “it creates risks of metacognitive laziness and disengagement that may deter skill acquisition in the long run” (OECD, 2026). The below graph of a randomized controlled trial shows high quality outputs for high school students who used Gen AI for math practice. However, notice their performance when access to Gen AI was removed during examinations.
Randomized controlled trial of high school students in Turkey in the 2023-24 school year (as cited in OECD, 2026)
The challenge is not simply whether AI should be used in education, but how we can use it to support student thinking without replacing it.
As you work through the Genially activity, please note that some questions have several answers. To see all options, you will need to scroll down.
Author-created interactive activity developed with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2026) and created using Genially.
If AI has the potential to support critical thinking, what does the current AI landscape actually offer?
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