The influence of AI tools on critical thinking in higher education

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into higher education, yet its impact on students’ critical thinking remains unclear. Critical thinking involves questioning, interpreting facts, evaluating arguments, and making balanced judgments. While AI can facilitate information access and augment learning tasks, uncritical reliance may limit analytical depth, creativity, and reflective engagement. This narrative review synthesises empirical and theoretical research on the effects of AI on university students’ critical thinking. Studies examining cognitive processes, engagement, and interventions in AI-assisted learning were analysed, focusing on the domains of analysis, evaluation, creativity, and reflection. We found that generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT and DALL·E, may encourage reliance on fast, heuristic-based (System 1) thinking. Students using AI without structured guidance demonstrated reduced neural engagement in executive control regions, lower originality, and diminished metacognitive effort. Interventions incorporating reflective scaffolding, metacognitive prompts, educational chatbots, and accountability-focused assessment improved critical engagement and evaluative reasoning. In conclusion, AI’s impact on critical thinking depends less on the technology itself and more on how it is pedagogically integrated. Uncritical use can compromise analysis, creativity, and reflection, whereas structured interventions can re-engage deliberate, System 2 thinking. Future research should explore longitudinal, cross-disciplinary effects and investigate integration strategies to foster reflective practices and independent reasoning.