Firstly, what is AI?
This can sometimes be difficult to define, as what we think AI is often differs from what it actually is. AI stands for Artificial Intelligence; however, the term “intelligence” is misleading. The majority of the AI we encounter in our day-to-day lives, from ChatGPT to facial recognition systems, is just a highly trained algorithm. These systems are trained on a large body of human-generated text, called a dataset, and “learn” from it what they should output.
AI effectively tries to mimic human intelligence, with “mimic” being the operative word. A paper written about the differences between language and thought concluded that the training which LLM’s do ‘allows a model to master formal but not necessarily functional linguistic competence’ Mahowald, K. et al. (2024). This shows the difference between being able to write correct grammatical text and create thoughtful writing. AI mimics human intelligence based on what it can gain from these large language models and the internet; however, there is a part of human intelligence that is stored only within our brains and not present in what we say or write, leading to this disconnect in its ability to have thoughts and write formal text. This leads to a whole host of thoughts and feelings existing behind a thought or feeling before we put it on a page, and AI cannot access those thoughts as they are in our heads.
However, this article is not looking to debate whether or not AI is true intelligence; that’s not something I feel equipped to get into. What I do want to discuss is the impact of us, as humans, using AI to do tasks that would ordinarily require human intelligence and therefore build and enhance our critical thinking. Even if AI were true human intelligence and every output AI gave was the exact output a human would give, are we still stripping ourselves as humans of the skills used and gained when accessing our own intelligence?
So what is critical thinking?
‘Findings show that CT is a cognitive and ethical process that organizes, evaluates, and relates information to guide warranted judgments. Its formative purpose requires evidence, crosschecking of sources, systematic observation, and, where appropriate, scientific method.’
(Martínez Barrio, Escobar Brochero and Castilla Sierra, 2026)
Critical thinking is crucial because it allows us to make judgments based on the information we are given and explore beyond the simple acceptance of information; it is a skill that is essential, particularly with the rise of AI.
The Oxford International College Brighton talk about how the skills we gain by analysing and synthesising the world and what we consume “enable us to solve problems and form our own opinions,”(Brighton, 2025) something which is becoming more important in a world with so much media telling us what to think.
AI and education
I have also witnessed a significant rise in the use of AI within education, a setting and age period in which critical thinking is often developed and able to evolve the most. From my own personal experience, I see an increase in AI being used by high school students for homework and for university assignments. But does this have a long-term negative effect we aren’t aware of yet?
I looked into the links between the use of AI in education and critical thinking and came across an article which delved into “The cognitive paradox of AI in education.” It discusses how the use of AI in education, while assisting students by providing insights and reducing the mental load can lead to an over-reliance. A study looking at cognitive load when using LLMs found that there was a lower GCL (Germane load) in their LLM group suggesting ‘that while the information was easier to process, it might not have engaged the deep learning processes as effectively as the more challenging traditional search tasks.’Stadler, M., Bannert, M. and Sailer, M. (2024)
And so, although AI can assist in education, it risks an increase in passive learning and a decrease in source verification and independent thinking. AI is used in many forms within education, from teachers using it to plan lessons to students using it in assignments. This makes drawing the line on when you should and shouldn’t use it more difficult. However, it’s also where knowing how AI is helping you and why you are using it is critical! Ask questions about what type of thinking it is replacing. Is it simply turning a 5-hour task that you wouldn’t learn anything from doing into a 10-minute session of prompting? Has any thought gone into your prompting? Could you learn more from doing this manually? Lastly, is it outsourcing your curiosity?
How do we best use AI?
I do not claim to have an answer to every problem I discuss; however, I always have an opinion. I think, as I mentioned earlier, we need to audit our AI use to prioritise using it as a productive tool rather than a way to dull our minds. I think we can use AI tools to enhance our day-to-day life, but that should be done to allow us more time for critical thinking and curiosity rather than taking those parts of our life away.
How do you use AI to boost your cognition rather than dull it?
Want to read more? Subscribe to Frankie’s Substack – Actually It’s Complicated – a cybersecurity student’s attempt to inject some nuance into topics which involve Cyber and society.
