Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Learning and Its Impact on Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) has increasingly influenced educational practices by providing students with rapid access to information, explanations, feedback, and assistance in completing learning tasks. However, the growing use of AI also raises concerns regarding students’ dependence on automatically generated information and its potential implications for critical thinking. This study aims to examine how AI-assisted learning influences students’ critical thinking skills at Madrasah Aliyah Miftahussalam Wonosalam, Demak. This research employed a qualitative case study design to explore students’ experiences, learning practices, and interactions with AI within an authentic educational context. Data were collected through desk review, classroom observation, and semi-structured interviews involving students and teachers as primary sources of information, supported by relevant institutional and learning documents. Data were analyzed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña, involving data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification, supported by content, discourse, and interpretive analysis. The findings indicate that AI-assisted learning functions as a supplementary learning resource that helps students access information, understand difficult concepts, generate ideas, and explore alternative explanations. However, its contribution to critical thinking depends on students’ patterns of engagement. Students who questioned, compared, verified, and reflected on AI-generated information demonstrated more active critical-thinking processes, whereas uncritical copying and excessive dependence created risks of cognitive offloading. Teacher guidance and information-verification practices were also found to be important in directing students toward responsible AI use. The study concludes that AI can support students’ critical thinking when it functions as a cognitive scaffold rather than a substitute for independent reasoning.