I’ve become so reliant on a GPS that using maps to direct myself feels like a foreign concept. Google Maps, Waze, whatever, if it's outside of my neighbourhood, I’m punching in the address before I head out. Sometimes I notice the GPS taking slower routes or sending me the wrong way as I get out of a parking lot, but regardless, I just follow its directions, because I don’t have to think. Though I know, without this convenient tool, I’d be lost (literally).

Today, AI is making more and more decisions for us (Microsoft, 2024). The more it develops, the more we use it and trust the information it provides us. While it saves us time, it also changes the way we think. The more we trust AI to do the hard work — whether it be writing us a report, diagnosing diseases, or finding a bug in our code — the less we engage our critical thinking skills. Many of us use AI, in small ways or large, and it's important we know what psychological effects it's having on our brains. Just like relying on a GPS can make us less confident navigating on our own, depending too much on AI to decide for us can weaken our ability to think critically.

Two psychological factors drive this effect— automation bias and cognitive offloading— which subtly shape how we process information and make decisions.

The Erosion of Critical Thinking

Critical thinking isn’t just when we use our brain, it’s a process that we use to think rationally, to understand logical connections between ideas, to evaluate arguments, and to identify inconsistencies in reasoning. It’s crucial for effective problem-solving, making informed decisions, and acquiring new knowledge (Gerlich, 2025, p.1). As AI continues to embed itself into our daily lives, we’re increasingly deferring to its outputs without scrutiny. This is a form of automation bias. This is where users favour automated solutions over their judgement, potentially ignoring contradictory information or not considering alternative options (Spatola, 2024, p.2).

Automation Bias and “Blind Trust”

Whether it’s getting take-out food instead of cooking at home or taking the escalator instead of stairs, it’s human nature to love taking the easy route. What's efficient and convenient is typically the path we take. We often take this path when we prompt AIs too, preferring direct answers from AI systems over understanding the underlying reas...

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