RETHINKING LEARNING IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: COGNITIVE CHALLENGES AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF CRITICAL THINKING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
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Abstract
This study examines the transformation of learning processes in higher education within contexts mediated by artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on how students evaluate the quality and reliability of knowledge in algorithmic environments. Using a qualitative approach, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with undergraduate students in the final two semesters of their program who use AI tools in their academic activities. The analysis identified differentiated patterns in verification practices, levels of cognitive autonomy, and criteria for evaluating information. The findings suggest that students combine active validation strategies with judgments based on the coherence and immediacy of responses. Uneven bias detection was also observed, revealing limitations in the critical evaluation of AI-generated content. The study concludes that the quality of learning in AI-mediated environments depends in part on situated practices of verification, evaluation, and trust regulation. In this regard, the study proposes the incorporation of “epistemic hygiene,” understood as the systematic development of competencies in critical judgment, comparison, and validation of knowledge generated by algorithmic systems.
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