2025/11/04 by Abhinandan Kulal
Computer Science · Medicine · Social Sciences · #AI in Service Interactions #Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education #Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
paper · doi:10.1080/08874417.2025.2582050
openalex created_date 2025/11/04 · openalex publication_date 2025/11/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This study investigates how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools affects critical thinking and examines the moderating roles of trust calibration and AI literacy in a quantitative survey of 625 postgraduate students, teachers, and research scholars. Drawing on Cognitive Offloading Theory, we hypothesized that greater AI usage would undermine critical thinking, and that trust in AI would exacerbate this effect. Consistent with our predictions, results from moderated moderation analysis indicate that AI usage negatively predicts critical thinking, trust in AI amplifies this negative relationship, and high AI literacy significantly buffers the detrimental impact of trust. These findings demonstrate that fostering AI literacy is a key strategic approach for calibrating users’ trust and preserving critical engagement with AI-generated information. The study underscores the necessity of integrating AI literacy initiatives into educational curricula to mitigate cognitive risks posed by widespread AI adoption.