The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking
Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23388232 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hao-Ping Lee (0000-0002-8063-1034, Carnegie Mellon University), Advait Sarkar (0000-0002-5401-3478, Microsoft Research (United Kingdom)), Lev Tankelevitch (0000-0003-1286-5194, Microsoft Research (United Kingdom)), Ian Drosos (0000-0003-3475-2609, Microsoft Research (United Kingdom)), Sean Rintel (0000-0003-0840-0546, Microsoft Research (United Kingdom)), Richard Banks (0009-0004-5239-2701, Microsoft Research (United Kingdom)), Nicholas Wilson (0009-0000-3948-6675, Microsoft Research (United Kingdom)) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-22 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | CONFERENCE |
| Venue | Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CONFERENCE) |
| Publisher | ACM (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1145/3706598.3713778 |
| OpenAlex | W4409885395 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 69 |
| References cited | 111 |
The rise of Generative AI (GenAI) in knowledge workflows raises questions about its impact on critical thinking skills and practices.We survey 319 knowledge workers to investigate 1) when and how they perceive the enaction of critical thinking when using GenAI, and 2) when and why GenAI affects their effort to do so.Participants shared 936 first-hand examples of using GenAI in work tasks.Quantitatively, when considering both task-and user-specific factors, a user's task-specific self-confidence and confidence in GenAI are predictive of whether critical thinking is enacted and the effort of doing so in GenAI-assisted tasks.Specifically, higher confidence in GenAI is associated with less critical thinking, while higher self-confidence is associated with more critical thinking.Qualitatively, GenAI shifts the nature of critical thinking toward information verification, response integration, and task stewardship.Our insights reveal new design challenges and opportunities for developing GenAI tools for knowledge work.
Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Critical thinking · Generative grammar · Self-confidence · AI in Service Interactions · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Education and Critical Thinking Development · Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning · Psychology · Social Psychology
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| Unique citing works | 69 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 69 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 61 |