A recent article in ‘New Scientist’ (13 February 2025) is headed ‘Using AI tools like ChatGPT can reduce critical thinking skills’. The article summarises the results of a survey of 319 people who were asked to share three examples of how they used generative AI tools such as ChatGPT in their work. They were then asked if they had used critical thinking while doing the tasks in these examples. In four out of 10 tasks, the participants reported using no critical thinking at all. As the authors of the study argue, if users use fewer and fewer critical thinking skills, ‘they may not be able to identify whether the AI is correct or know how to proceed without AI when they recognise it is wrong’. However, they also point that when the importance of a task is seen as high, people are more likely to engage in critical thinking. While there is the position that ‘deep reasoning models’ are already being developed which can promote critical thinking, Carissa Véliz from Oxford University highlights a worry that since ‘democracy is a kind of conversation, if we externalise dialogue to machines, we lose our place in the dialogue’.
A recent article in ‘New Scientist’ (13 February 2025) is headed ‘Using AI tools like ChatGPT can reduce critical thinking skills’. The article summarises the
In a recent article from World Population Review on those countries that have very successful education systems, we find many that focus on their students