The debate about artificial intelligence's impact on critical thinking skills won’t be settled anytime soon, and perhaps cannot be permanently settled. For starters, not every human task requires critical thinking. And people differ in their willingness to do so, with or without the use of AI.
If critical thinking refers to the disciplined process of actively analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information, using reasoned judgment, awareness of bias, and the ability to view issues from multiple perspectives, then AI can help or hinder such thinking. It all depends on the user.
Study | Key finding about critical thinking (behavior/choice) | Evidence that people often do not think critically routinely |
Frederick (2005) — Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT). (American Economic Association) | CRT measures the tendency to override an intuitive (fast) but wrong answer and engage reflective thought. Higher CRT supposedly leads to more normative decision-making. (American Economic Association) | Many participants score low on CRT items, showing reliance on intuitive responses in common problems. This was the first clear, simple demonstration that people often do not spontaneously reflect. (American Economic Association) |
Toplak, West & Stanovich (2014) — CRT expansion / review. (Keith Stanovich) | CRT correlates with many heuristics-and-biases tasks; reflective thinking is separable from IQ. (Keith Stanovich) | Meta-analytic/empirical work shows large subpopulations with low reflective scores — consistent pattern that many people frequently default to non-analytic processing. (Keith Stanovich) |
Pennycook & Rand (2019 / 2020) — analytic thinking & misinformation. (ScienceDirect) | Analytic thinking (CRT, other measures) reduces susceptibility to fake news and “bullshit receptivity”; lapses often come from not engaging analytic processes. (ScienceDirect) | People often share or believe misinformation not primarily due to ideology but because they fail to apply analytic scrutiny in the moment (mental laziness / distraction). (ScienceDirect) |
Mercier & Sperber (2011; review 2016) — Argumentative theory of reasoning. (Dan Sperber) | Reasoning evolved for argumentation/persuasion; people are better at generating justifications than at truth-seeking in isolation. (Dan Sperber) | Because reasoning is often socially-oriented, individuals routinely produce biased rationalizations rather than impartial critical evaluation — i.e., critical thinking is not the default. (Moodle@Units) |
Stanovich & West (2000) — individual differences in reasoning. (UCSD Pages) | People differ widely in their propensity to apply normative rules; some errors reflect computational limits, others failures to engage Type-2 processes. (Cambridge University Press & Assessment) | Individual differences explain why many people repeatedly fail to apply critical evaluation across tasks — reflective thinking is uneven in the population. (Cambridge University Press & Assessment) |
Evans (2008, Annual Review) — dual-process review. (PubMed) | Deliberative processes are slower and effortful; many everyday choices rely on fast heuristics instead. (PubMed) | The structural cost of Type-2 processing explains why people often choose not to think critically in routine settings. (PubMed) |
Otero et al. (2022) — meta-analysis on CRT and abilities. (ScienceDirect) | CRT correlates with many cognitive abilities but captures a distinct reflective disposition that predicts real-world judgment. (ScienceDirect) | Heterogeneity in CRT performance across populations shows many people do not spontaneously apply reflective thought in day-to-day decisions. (ScienceDirect) |
Kwek et al. (2023) — distractions, analytic thinking, and fake news. (PMC) | Distraction reduces analytic engagement and increases acceptance of false headlines; analytic prompts restore skeptical scrutiny. (PMC) | Real-world environments (multitasking, social feeds) routinely deprive users of the attention needed for critical thinking. (PMC) |
The Cognitive Reflection Test shows many people default to fast, intuitive answers and fail to reflect, according to the American Economic Association. That is a personal choice and cognitive style AI does not necessarily change.
Some people might be routinely more or less reflective.
Also, anyone might, from time to time, be distracted, tired or otherwise unwilling to reflect, at any given moment. Or, a person might simply not be pondering a question that requires much reflection, as the consequences of an uninformed choice are quite small.
In other cases, time might be an issue and some questions require an immediate answer.
The other angle is that, although most educators and policymakers affirm the importance of critical thinking, formal education often fails to systematically develop it.
User behavior is one element, but so is failure to teach critical thinking effectively.
Study | Key Finding | Source |
The State of Critical Thinking Today (The Critical Thinking Community) | Documents that most college faculty lack a substantive concept of critical thinking, and classroom research shows it is rarely fostered due to reliance on lectures and emphasis on factual recall. | https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/the-state-of-critical-thinking-today/523 |
An Evaluative Review of Barriers to Critical Thinking in Educational and Real-World Settings (PMC/NIH, 2024) | Identifies barriers to Critical Thinking (CT), including overemphasizing CT skills (analysis, evaluation) while neglecting the necessary dispositions (inclination or willingness to apply the skills). | https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10300824/ |
Critical thinking as a necessity for social science students... (Frontiers in Education, 2023) | States that globally, 85% of teachers believe students have limited critical thinking abilities upon entering university, and recommends project-based learning models for improvement. | https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.983292/full |
CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AND THEIR IMPACTS ON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS (ERIC, 2021) | Concluded that elementary school students' critical thinking skills were very low due to teacher factors, such as the dominant use of the direct learning model and lecture method. | https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1319487.pdf |
Thinking Left Behind: 5 Reasons Education Fails at Critical Thinking (The Critical Thinking Institute) | Argues that the systemic failure is due to a system predicated on the acquisition of knowledge, not the development of independent critical thinking skills. | https://www.thectinstitute.com/blog/5-reasons-education-fails-critical-thinking |
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