ChatGPT produces more "lazy" thinkers: Evidence of cognitive engagement decline

TL;DR

This study shows that using ChatGPT in academic writing tasks reduces students' cognitive engagement, raising concerns about AI's impact on deep thinking and active learning in education.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence that ChatGPT decreases cognitive engagement during writing tasks, highlighting the need for pedagogical strategies to foster active AI use.

Findings

ChatGPT use leads to significantly lower cognitive engagement scores.

AI assistance may cause cognitive offloading and reduced deep processing.

Results emphasize the importance of promoting reflective engagement with AI tools.

Abstract

Despite the increasing use of large language models (LLMs) in education, concerns have emerged about their potential to reduce deep thinking and active learning. This study investigates the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, specifically ChatGPT, on the cognitive engagement of students during academic writing tasks. The study employed an experimental design with participants randomly assigned to either an AI-assisted (ChatGPT) or a non-assisted (control) condition. Participants completed a structured argumentative writing task followed by a cognitive engagement scale (CES), the CES-AI, developed to assess mental effort, attention, deep processing, and strategic thinking. The results revealed significantly lower cognitive engagement scores in the ChatGPT group compared to the control group. These findings suggest that AI assistance may lead to cognitive offloading. The study contributes to the growing body of literature on the psychological implications of AI in education and raises important questions about the integration of such tools into academic practice. It calls for pedagogical strategies that promote active, reflective engagement with AI-generated content to avoid compromising self-regulated learning and deep cognitive involvement of students.