# Is AI Killing Our Critical Thinking Skills? > AI is everywhere now, it's also to the point where it handles both our daily and complex tasks, people are bound to rely on it. It is undeniable that it helps us greatly everyday, but are we sure to say that we "utilized" the tech and not "rely" on it? - URL: https://renato-dulog.is-a.dev/blog/is-ai-killing-our-critical-thinking-skills - Author: Renato Dulog - Published: 2026-02-10 - Updated: 2026-02-14 - Categories: Technology, Artificial Intelligence, AI Assisted --- > The contents of this blog are purely based on personal opinions. Any similarities to existing contents are of pure coincidence. Any materials used for the blog belongs to their rightful owners It is not an understatement to say that **Critical Thinking** has brought us to this modern world, and yes gave us AI. But ironically, it's slowly fading into the background. As to why will be explained here on this blog. --- ### The Rise Of Mental Automation Every major technology shift has changed how humans think. - Calculators reduced the need for manual arithmetic and - GPS weakened our sense of navigation - Search engines changed memory into “look it up later” AI takes this one step further. It doesn’t just store information. It _processes_ it for us. When a machine can instantly generate an answer, the brain starts asking: **Why struggle through thinking when I can just prompt?** --- ### Convenience vs. Cognitive Muscle The brain is kind of a muscle where: - Use it regularly, it strengthens - Avoid it too often, it weakens **Learning** is storing information, **Critical Thinking** would be making use of those and evaluating, sometimes connecting things on a grand scale. During this process _synapses_ are created which are fundamental to learning and retention as well as understanding. Now I am not the science guy so I do hope you can research this on your own. Because AI makes tasks faster and more convenient, people may engage less in deep critical thinking and research, which could weaken the mental habits and cognitive skills built through effortful practice. --- ### The Illusion of Knowing One of the strangest things about AI is how _confident_ it sounds. Even when it’s wrong, it speaks smoothly, clearly, and with authority. That creates a new kind of trap: **Feeling informed without actually understanding.** When we read an AI-generated explanation, it can feel like we “get it,” but often we’ve only absorbed the surface. True understanding usually comes from effort: - struggling with a concept - asking questions - making mistakes - connecting ideas ourselves AI removes much of that friction. And sometimes, friction is where learning happens. We are led to believe that reading a few things and memorizing them is considered "learning" when the reality is it is much more complex than that. In reality, learning requires effort. It requires mental engagement. It requires us to sit with uncertainty long enough to form our own understanding. And this is where AI becomes a double-edged sword. When answers are always one prompt away, we may slowly stop practicing the act of thinking deeply. Instead of wrestling with ideas, we skim through conclusions. Instead of building reasoning, we consume results. Over time, this can create a habit of passive thinking. We begin to rely on AI not just for assistance, but for direction. And while it may feel productive, it can quietly reduce the moments where critical thinking is actually developed. --- Now I am not against the existence of AI, even some parts of this blog is AI assisted, which is comical considering what this blog is all about. As I am new to blog writing and communication in general, what I am doing is utilizing it's existence to help other people also understand the implications of it and the importance of Critical Thinking. Back to the topic, how do we actually know if we are learning the right way? Having the right blend on all this? The answer is not rejecting AI completely, but recognizing what learning actually looks like. Real learning is not just arriving at an answer quickly. It is being able to explain _why_ that answer makes sense. It is being able to apply it in a different situation. It is being able to question it, criticize it, and even defend it. ### How To Effectively Use AI and Critical Thinking At The Same Time #### **Think First, Prompt Second** Establish a rough details on what your current understanding on the matter before having to prompt, that way it's easier for you to understand or question the results when it's slightly or largely different from your own understanding. #### **Ask “Why?” Not Just “What?”** Underrated way to learn things, stopping at the question "What" isn't enough of an information, you have to dig deep and create more branches on the topic before you can conclude that you have learned it. Don't stop until you can confidently explain the topic on your own to a 5 year old kid asking simple or stupid questions. #### **Use AI as a Critic, Not a Substitute** AI can be used as a secondary opinion when you are unsure of your own understanding, debating with it will also help you get more and fresh ideas that contradict or support your own understanding. Depending on how this goes, you either walk away with a solid understanding or a reinforced of the former one. #### **Verify Information Independently** Information can also be subjective, sometimes changing constantly, and AI might not be updated with these changes. Double check what you consume, cross check references and question the legitimacy of the data. Gatekeep your mind, do not let it be soiled by unreliable data with no solid #### **Avoid Over-Reliance on Instant Convenience** You don't have to let AI do everything, you can divide the work, or even let it create the basic idea and you do the hard part. Over reliance will rust your ability to think and attention span, convenience has always been a killer to growth, don't let it be this way. #### **Use AI to Expand Curiosity, Not End It** Concept's does not end after the question "What", learn everything you can from it, ask all the questions needed, AI is free which makes it basically possible to ask infinite amount of questions. Utilize this and you'll be able to learn everything in a jiffy. #### Apply What You Learn Well, obviously if it's something that can be applied then why not? The difference between learning by concept and learning by hand is enormous. Oftentimes the best result is both the body and mind learning at the same time. So apply everything you've learnned. --- I know we all get lazy, but learning is a superpower we got stripped off of by our own laziness and inability to fight the addiction of convenience. Let's not forget that learning is perpetual and it can bring you unimaginable benefits in life. Using AI shouldn't feel like a compromise.