Task complexity and AI dependency among college students: the mediating roles of cognitive load, future anxiety, and task motivation

This study advances a task-focused perspective on AI dependency by integrating Cognitive Load Theory and Self-Determination Theory and by specifying cognitive load, future anxiety, and task motivation as correlates linking task complexity with AI dependency. Practically, the results suggest actionable directions for course and assessment design (e.g., calibrating task complexity, scaffolding task decomposition and staged feedback, and supporting motivation and emotion management) to help students balance AI use with autonomous learning.