A new report reveals that many students are facing a decline in critical thinking skills due to their increasing reliance on artificial intelligence tools for school assignments. According to a survey conducted by KPMG, nearly three-quarters of Canadian students admit to using AI tools like ChatGPT to complete their work, with almost half expressing concerns that their critical thinking abilities have suffered as a result.
For a significant number of students, turning to AI has become their default approach when tackling assignments, overshadowing the traditional practice of drafting their own ideas. Rob Clayton, Partner and National Education Practice Leader at KPMG in Canada, emphasizes the importance of students honing their critical thinking skills rather than evading them. He advocates for integrating AI literacy into higher education curricula to help students enhance their analytical capabilities instead of relying solely on AI for quick solutions.
While the use of AI tools has shown to improve grades for many students, a sizable portion admit to feeling guilty about the dependency on AI, equating it to cheating. Despite the academic benefits, concerns persist regarding the depth of learning and knowledge retention when AI is heavily relied upon.
The report highlights the need for educational institutions to address this issue by offering courses on ethical and safe AI usage to encourage students to apply critical-thinking skills in conjunction with AI assistance. Clayton suggests that educators should adapt teaching methods to maintain a focus on critical thinking through activities such as oral presentations and class discussions, enabling students to engage actively with the information generated by AI.
The survey findings indicate that students primarily turn to AI for research, idea generation, assignment editing, and information summarization, with a significant percentage utilizing generative AI tools for resume creation and editing.
