The impact of ChatGPT on critical thinking

Abstract

The rising popularity of ChatGPT, which led to its integration in various aspects of everyday life, has also raised some concerns about its effects on peoples’ critical thinking abilities. The aim of the present research is to examine whether the opportunity of using ChatGPT will affect participants’ results of a general knowledge test. Participants were divided into experimental (allowed to use ChatGPT) and control (not allowed to use ChatGPT) groups. Experimental group’s total score was lower than control group’s. The understanding that AI is prone to errors predicted a higher score in the experimental group, while perceived reliability and understanding of the possibility of oversimplification did not have any effects on the total score. As a result, some negative impact on critical thinking caused by AI was found.