Challenging critical thinking in education: new paradigms of artificial intelligence

For many years, technological developments and innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) has forced the education system to adapt and modernise. This new reality requires people to develop critical thinking (CT) skills to promote sustainable development and provide solutions to contemporary problems. However, traditional learning and teaching methods do not stimulate students’ participation and motivation to develop and apply CT in the learning process. Given the situation in universities and the emergence of widely available AI tools, this study examines the progress of students’ CT through field visits, seminars and workshops and determines the relationships between AI, education and CT. Two online and asynchronous questionnaires were administered before and after these activities, measuring 200 students’ CT skills. The questions were related to students’ perceived knowledge and reflections on the current economic, social and environmental landscape. The literature on the effects of AI on education was then reviewed. The results show that field visits, seminars and workshops positively affect CT development. In the post-questionnaire, students showed higher performance by reflecting on new items and justifying their personal stance in their answers, even though the questions entailed more complexity. These results suggest that teaching methodologies that place students at the centre of the learning process can stimulate active student behaviour. AI tools can complement CT, as long as governments and other economic agents direct their use towards ethical and transparent purposes.