Critical Thinking and AI

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Critical Thinking in the Age of AI: Navigating the Challenges in Healthcare Education

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance in diagnostic precision, treatment suggestions, and administrative efficiency, healthcare educators and administrators confront a vital question: How can we leverage AI's capabilities without undermining the critical thinking skills of current and future clinicians? This challenge is growing more pertinent as AI tools become more widespread in educational, laboratory, and clinical environments.

Cognitive Offloading: A Double-Edged Sword

One concept that has gained attention in this context is cognitive offloading—the act of delegating mental tasks to external aids. In everyday life, this could be using a smartphone to store phone numbers or relying on GPS for navigation. In healthcare, AI tools can serve as powerful “external aids,” suggesting diagnoses, analyzing imaging data, or generating treatment plans. We have all noticed that we no longer know more than a couple of people's phone numbers, because we have offloaded that task to out phone.

While cognitive offloading can free up mental space for more complex or creative thinking, it also raises concerns about knowledge retention and skill degradation. Medical students, for example, may stop memorizing or deeply understanding certain processes if an AI can provide the answers. Over time, this reliance risks diminishing the very expertise and problem-solving skills that define healthcare professionals.

Striking the right balance, and reconsidering how we assign tasks and evaluate competencies, will require us all to adapt and adjust in an ever-changing landscape.

Reach out with any questions or if you are interested in partnering on curriculum design, educational research, or thoughtful AI integration in healthcare.

A few references include:

Feigerlova, E., Hani, H. & Hothersall-Davies, E. A systematic review of the impact of artificial intelligence on educational outcomes in health professions education. BMC Med Educ 25, 129 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-06719-5

Gerlich M. AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking. Societies. 2025; 15(1):6. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15010006

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