Understanding the Relationship Between Generative AI Dependence and Students’ Problem-Solving Ability: The Roles of Cognitive Offloading and AI Literacy

Today, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is quickly becoming a staple of university students' work, as it can provide instant answers to information search, writing, explanation and problem solving. While GenAI can aid in learning, overreliance can lessen students' independent thinking. This study explores the ties between generative AI reliance and students' problem-solving skills, focusing on cognitive offloading as a mediation factor and AI literacy as a moderation factor. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design is suggested with a sample of 100 University students. The data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlation, regression, mediation and moderation analysis through SPSS. The conceptual model suggests that students' problem-solving ability may be linked to their degree of cognitive offloading, which could be further linked to their reliance on GenAI. The authors suggest AI literacy as a boundary condition that could affect the relationship between GenAI dependence and problem solving ability. New studies suggest that students' use of GenAI in problem-solving is multi-layered and constructive, as well as thoughtless, and that there are four aspects of AI literacy: knowledge, application, evaluation, and understanding of ethical issues. Thus, the present study is centered on not only students' usage of GenAI, but also how reliance on GenAI can impact their thinking processes when addressing academic challenges.