New Delhi, 24 September 2026: Generative AIA makes study, research and daily tasks faster and easier. But now scientists and education experts are raising an important question: Is our habit of relying on AI for everything weakening humans' ability to think, reason and solve problems? According to a report published in the famous science journal 'Nature', early research indicates that how AI is used can have an impact on the learning process and critical thinking. However, experts say that it has not yet been fully proven that AI itself harms the ability to learn.
A survey by the 'American Association of Colleges and Universities' covered more than 1,000 American teachers. In which 90 percent of teachers believed that generative AI can reduce students' ability to think and reason. Additionally, in a global survey of more than 8,000 people, 20 percent of higher education students using AI admitted that they found it more difficult to solve problems without AI.
When Lixiang Yan, an education researcher at Tsinghua University in China, used agentic AI while preparing an online course, he found that AI can do tasks on its own like completing assignments, answering questions and participating in online discussions. The concern is that instead of thinking actively, students are handing over their work to AI.
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Huge decline in mathematics performance as soon as AI is removed
According to an important study released in 2024, secondary school students solved mathematics problems very well with the help of generative AI. But when AI was withdrawn, they performed worse than students who had never used AI. This shows that immediate good results from AI are not a guarantee of real learning.
Researchers advise to be careful on this issue. AI is still a new technology and studies on its long-term effects are limited. If AI encourages students to think and reason through questions rather than providing direct answers, it can be helpful in learning. That is, what is important is whether AI is used to help in thinking or whether the task of thinking itself is handed over to AI.
According to Daniel Willingham, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Virginia, learning is the result of a mental process that requires effort. The speed with which AI gives answers reduces this mental effort. Psychologist Tania Lombrozo of Princeton University says that some difficulty in learning is useful. Finding the answer yourself and explaining it in your own language strengthens understanding.
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Getting information and understanding it are two different things.
There is a big difference between getting information from AI on the internet and actually understanding it. Research shows that people who get information by searching the Internet are more confident about their understanding, but when they are asked to actually explain the topic, their answers are less accurate. Experts call this situation 'illusion of understanding'.
In a study conducted on 24,000 students in the Philippines, 63 percent of the students claimed that they could identify fake news, but only 26 percent could actually identify it. For this, researchers recommend 'lateral reading', in which instead of immediately trusting a website, its authenticity is checked from other reliable sources.
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How to use AI properly?
First think for yourself: For any question, first reason and think yourself, only then take the help of AI.
Check the answer: Verify whether the source and logic of the AI's answer are correct.
Write in your own words: After understanding the topic, try to write it in your own words or explain it to others.
According to Thomas Nygren, a researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden, students should clarify their thoughts before asking questions to AI so that they are not immediately influenced by the machine's answer.