ChatGPT "Improves" Critical Thinking in Kids...But Not Really

📍 📍 📍 think. This study found some evidence for enhancing critical thinking through the use of ChatGBT. The researchers followed 25 students as they wrote essays with the assistance of ChatGPT. Afterwards, students reported gains in critical thinking, system thinking, and strategic competence. That sounds great, right? Well, the devil is in the details. Toward the end of the report, the researchers casually mention something that’s actually crucial. “It should be noted that the students associated AI’s effect on critical thinking with its imperfection-- the perceived need to reformulate their question or to verify the obtained response, lacking the necessary depth. In other words, because ChatGPT’s outputs were so flawed and often incorrect, the students had to think more to make sense of them and about how to use AI at all. So, saying that using chat GPT improved their critical thinking is like saying that driving a car increased their automotive knowledge. Except, it wasn’t driving the car that increased their knowledge. It was that it kept breaking down and they learned automotive knowledge because they had to keep repairing it. So beware of how your kids are using AI, as well as how you are using it yourself. And for more important insights into critical thinking and AI, follow me here at Actual Intelligence and at my Substack “Pearlman Actual Intelligence”. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pearlmanactualintelligence.substack.com

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ChatGPT "Improves" Critical Thinking in Kids...But Not Really is an episode from The Critical Thinking Initiative by Steve Pearlman, Ph.D..

This episode is 1:42 long.

This episode was published on Dec 9, 2025.

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