AI makes life easier—but is it making us think less? As someone who uses AI tools daily in my studies, I’ve started reflecting on whether our growing dependence on automation might be weakening our critical thinking skills.
AI has become so integrated into our lives that it’s easy to let it think for us. Whether it’s using a chatbot to summarize information or relying on algorithms to recommend what we watch, read, or buy, we’re gradually outsourcing parts of our decision-making to machines. This convenience can come at a cost—our ability to think critically and creatively. As a student in IT and UX, I see this tension every day: AI helps me brainstorm ideas or analyze data faster, but if I’m not careful, it can also make me passive.
I believe AI should be used as a collaborative tool, not a replacement for human reasoning. It can guide our thought process, but we must stay in control of the “why” behind the answers. True innovation still comes from human curiosity, not machine prediction. As society becomes more reliant on AI, we’ll need to double down on critical thinking skills—questioning, verifying, and interpreting information ourselves. The goal isn’t to reject AI but to use it thoughtfully, keeping our minds sharp in an age of automation.
