Tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) are improving our learning, working, and decision-making processes. There is a cost involved in this change, though. With an eye toward cognitive offloading—the process by which we assign mental tasks to outside aids like digital assistants, search engines, or recommendation systems.
In this article, I examine a 2025 study by Michael Gerlich. It provides a thorough and sophisticated investigation into how artificial intelligence tools influence critical thinking. The study offers a data-rich perspective on a rising issue: depending more on AI to think for us reduces our own cognitive capacity.