The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Repor...

The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers

The study investigates the impact of Generative AI on critical thinking among knowledge workers, exploring their perceptions, effort levels, and how confidence in AI affects their cognitive engagement and decision-making.

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The aims are both to improve the quality of AI-assisted tasks and also to empower users to de-velop their skills and maintain a balanced “relationship” with AI. To address task confidence recalibration, AI tools could incorpo-rate feedback mechanisms that help users gauge the reliability of AI outputs, when to trust the AI and when to apply their c... See more

Hao-Ping (Hank) Lee • The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers

Falindrith

P24 described several phases of image generation prompting, saying “Image generation requires more effort for everything except the actual image generation. I have to think of what I want to be drawn, then on how the AI wants it described, then correct it when it makes wacky outputs.”

Hao-Ping (Hank) Lee • The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers

Falindrith

1) a higher confidence in GenAI is associated with less critical thinking even though it is perceived as less effort to do so , and 2) a higher self-confidence is associated with more critical thinking even though it is perceived as more effort to do so .

Hao-Ping (Hank) Lee • The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers

Falindrith

Knowledge workers also discussed how pri-oritising critical thinking in their work might be misaligned with their overall task motivations or job objectives. For example, par-ticipants discussed a lack of time (44/319) for critical thinking at work.

Hao-Ping (Hank) Lee • The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers

Falindrith

While critical thinking may not be necessary for low-stakes tasks, it is risky for users to only apply critical thinking in high-stakes situations. Without regular practice in common and/or low-stakes scenarios, cognitive abilities can deteriorate over time [ 5 ], and thus create risks if high-stakes scenarios are the only opportunities available f... See more

Hao-Ping (Hank) Lee • The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers

Falindrith

These findings suggest that a reflective ap-proach toward the use of GenAI tools, which can lead to what prior work refers to as “pathways to non-reliance on AI” [ 20 ], is more likely to occur when knowledge workers have more confidence in doing the task without AI, or in evaluating AI responses. Our qualitative analysis (see Section 4.3) finds th... See more

The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported ...

Falindrith