The Erosion of Critical Thinking and the Risk of Student Deskilling

Protecting the core purpose of education

Education is not simply the transmission of information. It is the development of skills that allow students to think independently, solve unfamiliar problems, and understand the world with clarity and depth. This is why the rapid adoption of generative AI raises concerns that go beyond academic misconduct. The deeper worry is the gradual erosion of critical thinking itself.

AI can produce quick, polished answers to complex prompts, and the responses are often convincing enough to pass casual scrutiny. When students lean on AI for first drafts, explanations, or problem-solving, they skip the productive struggle that leads to deep learning. They bypass the process of research, synthesis, and reflection and instead accept the most immediate solution the machine provides. This is cognitive offloading at scale, and the long-term impact is a decline in foundational skills.

Faculty report widening gaps in students' writing, reasoning, and analysis. Some describe students who cannot explain work completed with AI assistance. Others see growing dependency on tools that can break at any time. If students never engage with the intellectual labor behind an answer, they lose the capacity to troubleshoot or generate original thought when AI is unavailable.

The solution is not to ban AI but to integrate it intentionally. Students must learn how to evaluate AI output, question its assumptions, compare it with credible sources, and revise it with their own insight. The presence of AI in learning environments should raise the bar for critical thinking, not lower it. We must design instruction that treats AI as a tool for inquiry rather than a shortcut for answers.

Posted to LinkedIn