CRITICAL THINKING IN THE ERA OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: EXTINCTION OR COGNITIVE EVOLUTION?

Abstract

With the inevitable arrival of artificial intelligence (AI) in educational contexts, it becomes essential to reflect on its influence on the development of critical thinking. This article critically examines the relationship between these two dimensions, addressing the challenges and opportunities arising from their interaction. While AI-based tools can foster personalized learning and stimulate higher-order cognitive skills, excessive and unrestricted use risks generating dependency, thereby reducing autonomous reflection, argumentation, and critical analysis. Through a documented and reasoned analysis, the study explores how critical thinking might undergo a transformation in the digital age, depending on how AI is integrated into educational processes. It argues that AI should be conceived as a technological mediation that complements, rather than replaces, the student’s cognitive capacity in their learning process. Consequently, the article proposes a pedagogy oriented toward critical digital literacy, educational ethics, and active reflection, with the teacher acting as an epistemic mediator and the student developing competencies to use AI in an informed and responsible manner. The article concludes that critical thinking is not destined to disappear but requires a conscious evolution to preserve intellectual autonomy in an environment mediated by intelligent technologies.