Do AI tutors empower or enslave learners? Toward a critical use of AI in education

Authors

Lucile Favero,

Juan Antonio P¬érez-Ortiz,

Tanja K¬ásser and Nuria Oliver

Date

07/2025

Publisher

arXiv

Link

http://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.06878v1

The increasing integration of AI tools in education presents both opportunities and challenges, particularly regarding the development of the students' critical thinking skills. This position paper argues that while AI can support learning, its unchecked use may lead to cognitive atrophy, loss of agency, emotional risks, and ethical concerns, ultimately undermining the core goals of education. Drawing on cognitive science and pedagogy, the paper explores how over-reliance on AI can disrupt meaningful learning, foster dependency and conformity, undermine the students' self-efficacy, academic integrity, and well-being, and raise concerns about questionable privacy practices. It also highlights the importance of considering the students' perspectives and proposes actionable strategies to ensure that AI serves as a meaningful support rather than a cognitive shortcut. The paper advocates for an intentional, transparent, and critically informed use of AI that empowers rather than diminishes the learner.

Study at a glance

Question: How does using AI tools in education affect students' learning, agency, and critical thinking?
Setting and data: Not stated in the abstract
Method: Position paper drawing on cognitive science and pedagogy

Why it matters

While AI tools can support learning, their unchecked use may lead to cognitive atrophy, loss of agency, and dependency. Over-reliance on AI risks disrupting meaningful learning and undermining students' critical thinking skills.

Key findings

While AI tools can support learning, their unchecked use may cause cognitive atrophy, loss of student agency, and undermine core educational goals.
Over-reliance on AI can disrupt meaningful learning, foster student dependency and conformity, and serve as a cognitive shortcut rather than a support.
Excessive use of AI can undermine students' self-efficacy, academic integrity, and emotional well-being, while introducing questionable privacy practices.

Summary drafted with AI from the paper’s abstract and may contain errors. See the full paper for details.

What is the application?

Teaching – Instructional Materials,

Teaching – Assessment and Feedback,

Learning – Student Support

Who is the user?

Student

Who age?

Post-Secondary

Why use AI?

Efficiency,

Outcomes – Differentiation,