Feature importance in random forest regression.

A study by Michael Gerlich at SBS Swiss Business School has found that increased reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) tools is linked to diminished critical thinking abilities. It points to cognitive offloading as a primary driver of the decline.

AI's influence is growing fast. A quick search of AI-related science stories reveals how fundamental a tool it has become. Thousands of AI-assisted, AI-supported and AI-driven analyses and decision-making tools help scientists improve their research.

AI has also become more integrated into daily activities, from virtual assistants to complex information and decision support. Increased usage is beginning to influence how people think, especially impactful among younger people, who are avid users of the technology in their personal lives.

An attractive aspect of AI tools is cognitive offloading, where individuals rely on the tools to reduce mental effort. As the technology is both very new and rapidly being adopted in unforeseeable ways, questions arise about its potential long-term impacts on cognitive functions like memory, attention, and problem-solving under prolonged periods or volume of cognitive offloading taking place.

In the study "AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking," published in Societies, Gerlich investigates whether AI tool usage correlates with critical thinking scores and explores how cognitive offloading mediates this relationship.

A mix of quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews was used with 666 participants in the United Kingdom. They were distributed across three age groups (17–25, 26–45, 46 and older) and had varying educational backgrounds.

Quantitative data collection involved a 23-item questionnaire measuring AI tool usage, cognitive offloading tendencies, and critical thinking skills, utilizing scales like the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment (HCTA). ANOVA, correlation, multiple regression, and random forest regression analyses provided statistical insights. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 50 participants underwent thematic analysis for contextual depth.

Statistical analyses demonstrated a significant negative correlation between AI tool usage and critical thinking scores (r = -0.68, p < 0.001). Frequent AI users exhibited diminished ability to critically evaluate information and engage in reflective problem-solving.

Cognitive offloading was strongly correlated with AI tool usage (r = +0.72) and inversely related to critical thinking (r = -0.75). Mediation analysis revealed that cognitive offloading partially explains the negative relationship between AI reliance and critical thinking performance.

Younger participants (17–25) showed higher dependence on AI tools and lower critical thinking scores compared to older age groups. Advanced educational attainment correlated positively with critical thinking skills, suggesting that education mitigates some cognitive impacts of AI reliance.

Random forest regression (R2 = 0.37) and multiple regression analyses highlighted diminishing returns on critical thinking with increasing AI usage, emphasizing a threshold beyond which cognitive engagement significantly declines.

Three themes emerged from the qualitative interviews. Many participants acknowledged heavy reliance on AI for tasks like memory and decision-making, with younger users particularly affected. Respondents expressed concerns about losing critical thinking skills due to the habitual use of AI tools. Issues such as algorithmic bias and lack of transparency in AI recommendations were frequently mentioned.

The study's findings, if replicated, could have significant implications for educational policy and the integration of AI in professional settings. Schools and universities might want to emphasize critical thinking exercises and metacognitive skill development to counterbalance AI reliance and cognitive effects.

Developers of AI systems might consider cognitive implications, ensuring their tools encourage a level of engagement rather than passive reliance. Policymakers might need to support digital literacy programs, warning individuals to critically evaluate AI outputs and equipping them to navigate technological environments effectively.

It is unclear how likely these countermeasures will be applied or adopted. What is becoming clear is AI's dual-edged nature, where tools improve task efficiency but pose risks to cognitive development through excessive cognitive offloading.

On the other hand, in the opinion of the ever-skeptical writer of this article (and first in line to be replaced professionally by our future robot overlords), we could just be entering a stage of human development where the critical thinking skills of the past are no longer the ones we use going forward.

If survival in a technology-driven environment does not require the classical skills of human reasoning, those skills are likely not going to survive, fading from use like handwritten cursive, math without calculators, texting without autocorrect and books without audio.

As AI becomes more integral to daily life, finding a balance between leveraging its benefits and maintaining critical thinking skills will only be crucial as long as they retain value.

AI is still in its infancy. The tools revolutionizing research and influencing decision-making are only in a beta testing mode of what is to come. If or when AI reaches a stage where it is offering consistently better outcomes than human critical thinking, what will the objection be?

Will we object when AI discovers cancer that a doctor could not, or cures for diseases that researchers could not? When AI creates methods to make consumer products, food, air and water more safe? When it discovers a new form of energy generation, reverses global warming and finds life on a distant planet? When it ensures that a reservoir is not left empty ahead of a wildfire? In these scenarios, it is difficult to see an objection based on the lack of human input.

At some future tipping point, the need for human-derived critical thinking might diminish faster than the cognitive decline effects of using AI as a tool. It may carry on in some professions that will need to maintain it at first—perhaps with plumbers and electricians and other scenarios of physical labor matched with problem solving skills.

Eventually, systems will be developed that no longer require these skills, and the time of humans as critical thought leaders on the planet will be over. While this might seem frightening at first, with AI hallucinations and algorithms controlled by unseen hands, the world that emerges on the other side of relying on well-reasoned human thought may look surprisingly a lot like the one we have been living in for centuries.

More information: Michael Gerlich, AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking, Societies (2025). DOI: 10.3390/soc15010006