AI use in education raises concerns over declining critical thinking skills

September 23, 2026 at 02:55 PM2 min

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Educators and researchers warn that reliance on generative AI in education may weaken students' critical thinking. A 2025 survey of over 1,000 US faculty found 90% believe AI will reduce critical-thinking skills. Around 20% of AI-using students report difficulty solving problems without AI.

Key Facts

In a 2025 survey of more than 1,000 US faculty members by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, 90% said generative AI will reduce students' critical-thinking skills.
Around 20% of higher-education students who use AI said they already find it harder to work through problems without it, based on more than 8,000 respondents to a global survey this year.
Lixiang Yan, an education researcher at Tsinghua University in Beijing, observed that an agentic AI called Codex could independently complete all assignments, answer questions, and participate in discussions without learner intellectual engagement.
Cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham at the University of Virginia states that learning requires effortful cognitive processing, which AI effectively removes.
Thomas Nygren at Uppsala University warns that students risk outsourcing exactly the activities through which scientific thinking develops: formulating hypotheses, interpreting evidence, considering alternatives, and struggling with uncertainty.

Educator Concerns

Lixiang Yan, an education researcher at Tsinghua University in Beijing, realized that students could outsource all of their work for his university course to artificial intelligence. Yan was using an agentic AI called Codex to set up an online course on a learning-management platform, but the AI could independently complete all assignments, answer questions, and participate in discussions without the learner being intellectually engaged. The experience made Yan think that teaching students to reason and think for themselves is more critical than ever. In a 2025 survey of more than 1,000 US faculty members conducted by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, 90% said they thought generative AI will reduce students' critical-thinking skills.

Cognitive Impact

Cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville explains that learning happens as a consequence of cognitive processing, which is typically effortful, and that AI effectively removes that effort. Around 20% of higher-education students who use AI said they already find it harder to work through problems without it, according to more than 8,000 respondents to a global survey this year. Thomas Nygren, who studies education and critical thinking at Uppsala University in Sweden, warns that students risk outsourcing precisely the activities through which scientific thinking develops: formulating hypotheses, interpreting evidence, considering alternatives, and struggling with uncertainty. Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin, who led a ten-year programme on critical thinking at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, says the building of critical thinking and higher-order thinking skills has become even more important.