Why students’ critical thinking is declining in the age of AI

Critical thinking is one of the most important skills students need throughout their education and beyond. It helps them question ideas, evaluate and solve problems, and build well-reasoned arguments instead of simply accepting information as it is.

As using AI has become a regular part of academic work, many students now use it to summarize readings, generate ideas, and draft assignments. While these tools make academic tasks faster, they also reduce the amount of independent thinking students do themselves. When AI takes over parts of the reasoning process, students have fewer opportunities to develop the critical thinking skills that assignments are meant to build.

Educators are increasingly questioning how widespread AI use is influencing the way students think, learn, and reason. As AI becomes a regular part of academic work, concerns are growing that overreliance on these tools may reduce opportunities for students to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and independent writing skills. This has made it even more important for universities to encourage responsible AI use while ensuring students remain actively engaged in the learning process.

Why educators are noticing a change

Many educators are noticing a gap between the quality of students’ written work and their ability to explain it. Assignments are often well structured, grammatically correct, and polished. But when students are asked to explain their arguments, justify their sources, or answer follow-up questions, they struggle to demonstrate the depth of understanding that their written work suggests.

One reason is the growing use of AI throughout the writing process. Students use AI to summarize readings, generate outlines, or suggest arguments before they begin writing. Instead of working on the assignments themselves, they rely on AI’s reasoning and build on it.

Recent research helps explain why educators are noticing this shift. A 2025 study published in Societies found that frequent AI use was associated with lower critical thinking scores. The researchers suggest that one reason is cognitive offloading, where people rely on AI to perform mental tasks instead of working through them themselves. The strongest association was observed among young adults aged 17 to 25 (Gerlich, 2025)

Why AI Detection Alone Does Not Address the Real Challenge

As AI use in education has grown, many institutions have adopted AI detection tools to help identify assignments that may require closer review. AI detection plays an important role in supporting academic integrity by indicating whether a submission appears to contain AI-generated content. However, an AI detection score alone cannot show how an assignment was created, how ideas evolved, or how much of the work genuinely reflects the student’s own thinking.

Critical thinking cannot be measured from the final submission alone. A student may use AI to brainstorm ideas and then critically analyze, revise, and develop them into original work. Another may submit AI-generated content with little engagement. While AI detection helps flag potential concerns, educators need visibility into the writing process to understand student effort, responsible AI use, and genuine learning.

A Better Way to Understand Student Thinking

Critical thinking is reflected in how students develop their ideas, not just in the final assignment they submit. A finished paper cannot show whether a student questioned different viewpoints, revised their argument after new evidence, or simply accepted the first response generated by AI.

This is where understanding how a student wrote the assignment becomes valuable. By making the writing journey visible and transparent, educators gain the context needed to evaluate student’s way of thinking rather than relying only on an AI detection score.

DocuMark supports this approach by helping educators shift the focus from unreliable AI detection to learning outcomes. It provides visibility into:

• How a student’s work evolved through edits, revisions, and writing activity.
• The level of student effort, including how much work was done independently.
• The development of ideas and arguments throughout the writing process.
• Meaningful context for assessment, helping educators evaluate learning instead of relying on a single AI detection score.

Conclusion

AI is changing how students complete assignments, but the purpose of academic work remains the same: to help students develop critical thinking, deepen their understanding, and apply what they have learned. As AI becomes a regular part of education, the focus should be on how students reached their final work, not just the final submission itself.

DocuMark supports this approach by making the writing journey visible, giving educators better context to understand student effort, independent thinking, and learning outcomes instead of relying only on AI detection scores.