Systematic review: GenAI fosters or hinders critical thinking depending on how it's used
_akpiper · x · 2026-11-06
A systematic review, 'Between cognitive offloading and critical autonomy' (Frontiers in Education, Sept 2026), synthesizes evidence on GenAI's epistemic impact in higher education.
- Methods: PRISMA 2020-compliant review of peer-reviewed studies from 2022–2026 on ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and similar LLMs in university contexts.
- Findings: GenAI functions simultaneously as a cognitive scaffold and a source of epistemic vulnerability — AI-assisted learning can support feedback literacy, metacognitive reflection and self-regulated learning, while uncritical reliance is associated with cognitive offloading, automation bias, superficial processing and diminished evaluative judgement.
- Key takeaway: educational consequences are mediated primarily by pedagogical design, AI literacy and assessment practices rather than the technology itself — so students can use GenAI for feedback, provided they still get to critically assess it.
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