Exploring the Impact of Generative AI ChatGPT on Critical Thinking in Higher Education: Passive AI-Directed Use or Human–AI Supported Collaboration?

Generative AI is weaving into the fabric of many human aspects through its transformative power to mimic human-generated content. It is not a mere technology; it functions as a generative virtual assistant, raising concerns about its impact on cognition and critical thinking. This mixed-methods study investigates how GenAI ChatGPT affects critical thinking across cognitive presence (CP) phases. Forty students from a four-year university in the southwestern United States completed a survey; six provided their ChatGPT scripts, and two engaged in semi-structured interviews. Students’ self-reported survey responses suggested that GenAI ChatGPT improved triggering events (M = 3.60), exploration (M = 3.70), and integration (M = 3.60); however, responses remained neutral during the resolution stage. Two modes of interaction were revealed in the analysis of students’ ChatGPT scripts: passive, AI-directed use and collaborative, AI-supported interaction. A resolution gap was identified; nonetheless, the interview results revealed that when GenAI ChatGPT was utilized with guidance, all four stages of cognitive presence were completed, leading to enhanced critical thinking and a reconceptualization of ChatGPT as a more knowledgeable other. This research suggests that the effective use of GenAI in education depends on the quality of human–AI interaction. Future directions must orient toward an integration of GenAI in education that positions human and machine intelligence not as a substitution but as co-participation, opening new epistemic horizons while reconfiguring assessment practices to ensure that human oversight, critical inquiry, and reflective thinking remain at the center of learning.