On thresholds and centaurs: reflections on learning and cognitive transformations in the face of generative artificial intelligence in education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51359/2675-7354.2025.268202Keywords:
generative artificial intelligence, cognitive offloading, competence paradox, critical AI literacy, metacompetenceAbstract
Based on debates and uncertainties generated by the integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education, three axes of reflection are presented regarding its impacts on teaching-learning processes. The first axis explores AI's potential as a cognitive amplification tool, articulating Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development with the extended metaphor of the cognitive centaur. The second axis analyzes the phenomenon of cognitive offloading and the Competence Paradox, supported by recent empirical evidence, through which the same technology that offers support may atrophy or impede skill development by reducing cognitive friction. The third axis proposes that automation of basic cognitive tasks elevates demands on higher-order human competencies, namely analysis, evaluation, and creation. The analysis reveals fundamental tensions: AI simultaneously amplifies and threatens cognitive capacities, requiring careful navigation between leveraging benefits and preserving intellectual autonomy guided by critical pedagogy and AI literacy.
References
ALBUQUERQUE, Beatriz Ventorini Lins de. Inteligência artificial generativa na educação de crianças e adolescentes: perspectivas da Psicologia do Desenvolvimento. In: WORKSHOP UMA TARDE NA URCA: ENCONTRO FILOSÓFICO SOBRE INFORMÁTICA NA EDUCAÇÃO (URCA), I., 2024, Rio de Janeiro. Anais [...] Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação, 2024. p. 32-36. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.5753/urca.2024.245637. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
ALMEIDA, Ana Paula et al. Carta de recomendação para o uso da Inteligência Artificial na Educação: desafios e potencialidades. São Paulo: Nelpa, 2025. E-book. 61 p. Disponível em: https://educapes.capes.gov.br/handle/capes/972722. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
ALTER, Adam L.; OPPENHEIMER, Daniel M. Easy on the mind, easy on the wallet: the roles of familiarity and processing fluency in valuation judgments. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, New York, v. 15, n. 5, p. 985-990, 2008. Disponível em: https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/PBR.15.5.985. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
ANDERSON, Lorin W.; KRATHWOHL, David R. (Eds.). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Longman, 2001.
ANTHROPIC. Anthropic Education Report: how university students use Claude. Anthropic, [S. l.], 6 abr. 2025. Disponível em: https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-education-report-how-university-students-use-claude. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
ATKINSON, Robert. Sounding smart vs. thinking deep: how AI fluency and affirmation can lead us to settle for shallow thinking. Linkedin, [S. l.], 30 mar. 2025. Disponível em: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sounding-smart-vs-thinking-deep-how-ai-fluency-can-lead-atkinson-jqckc/. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
BJORK, Robert A.; BJORK, Elizabeth Ligon. Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning. In: GERNSBACHER, Morton Ann et al. (Eds.). Psychology and the real world: essays illustrating fundamental contributions to society. New York: Worth Publishers, 2011. p. 56-64.
BROWN, Dan. Origem. São Paulo: Arqueiro, 2017.
CARR, Nicholas. The shallows: what the internet is doing to our brains. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.
CLARK, Richard E. Reconsidering Research on Learning from Media. Review of Educational Research, [S. I.], v. 53, n. 4, p. 445-459, 1983. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543053004445. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
CRAIK, Fergus; LOCKHART, Robert S. Levels of processing: a framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, New York, v. 11, n. 6, p. 671-684, 1972. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(72)80001-X. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
CRAWFORD, Kate. The atlas of AI: power, politics, and the planetary costs of Artificial Intelligence. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021.
DAVID, Louise; VASSENA, Eliana; BIJLEVELD, Erik. The unpleasantness of thinking: a meta-analytic review of the association between mental effort and negative affect. Psychological Bulletin, Washington D. C., v. 150, v. 9, p. 1070-1093, 2024. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000443. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
DENG, Ruiqi et al. Does ChatGPT enhance student learning? A systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies. Computers & Education, Kidlington, v. 227, p. 1-35, abr. 2025. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2024.105224. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
ENGLISH, Ross; NASH, Rebecca; MACKENZIE, Heather. A rather stupid but always available brainstorming partner: use and understanding of Generative AI by UK postgraduate researchers. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, Abingdon, p. 1-15, 2025. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2024.2446236. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
GERLICH, Michael. AI tools in society: impacts on cognitive offloading and the future of critical thinking. Societies, Basileia, v. 15, n. 1, p. 1-28, 2025. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15010006. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
GUEST, Olivia et al. Against the uncritical adoption of “AI” Technologies in Academia. Zenodo, [S. I.], 2025a. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17065099. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
GUEST, Olivia et al. Stop the uncritical adoption of AI technologies in academia. Open Letter, Rochester, 2025b. Disponível em: https://openletter.earth/open-letter-stop-the-uncritical-adoption-of-ai-technologies-in-academia-b65bba1e. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2025.
HUMLUM, Anders; VESTERGAARD, Emilie. Large Language Models, small labor market effects. Copenhague: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2025. Disponível em: https://www.nber.org/papers/w33777. Acesso em: 25 nov. 2025.
KASPAROV, Garry. Deep thinking: where machine intelligence ends and human creativity begins. New York: PublicAffairs, 2017.
LEE, Hao-Ping et al. The impact of Generative AI on critical thinking: self-reported reductions in cognitive effort and confidence effects from a survey of knowledge workers. In: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2025 CHI CONFERENCE ON HUMAN FACTORS IN COMPUTING SYSTEMS, I., 2025, Yokohama. Anais [...] Yokohama: ACM, 2025. p. 1-22. Disponível em: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713778. Acesso em: 25 nov. 2025.
LLORENS-LARGO, Faraón. Las tecnologías en la educación: características deseables, efectos perversos. UniverSídad, Alicante, 13 fev. 2019. Disponível em: https://www.universidadsi.es/las-tecnologias-en-la-educacion-caracteristicas-deseables-efectos-perversos/. Acesso em: 25 nov. 2025.
MISHRA, Punya. The GenAI and Expertise Paradox: why it makes expert work more important but harder. Punya Mishra, [S. l.], 13 fev. 2025. Disponível em: https://punyamishra.com/2025/02/13/the-genai-and-expertise-paradox-why-it-makes-expert-work-more-important-but-harder/. Acesso em: 25 nov. 2025.
MOLLICK, Ethan R.; MOLLICK, Lilach. Assigning AI: seven approaches for students, with prompts. The Wharton School Research Paper/SSRN, Filadélfia, 2023a. Disponível em: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4475995. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
MOLLICK, Ethan R.; MOLLICK, Lilach. Using AI to Implement effective teaching strategies in classrooms: five strategies, including prompts. The Wharton School Research Paper/SSRN: Filadélfia, 2023b. Disponível em: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4391243. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
MOLLICK, Ethan R. Cointeligência: a vida e o trabalho com IA. Tradução de Roberta Clapp. Rio de Janeiro: Intrínseca, 2025.
NEVES, Kiandro Oliveira Gomes; NETTO, José Francisco de Magalhães. Impacto do uso de tecnologias digitais na zona de desenvolvimento proximal de alunos da educação básica. Ensino de Ciências e Tecnologia em Revista – ENCITEC, Santo Ângelo, v. 14, n. 2, p. 24-37, 2024. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.31512/encitec.v14i2.1324. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
RISKO, Evan F.; GILBERT, Sam J. Cognitive offloading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, [S. I.], v. 20, n. 9, p. 676-688, 2016. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.07.002. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
ROTHMAN, Joshua. Why even try if you have A.I.? New Yorker, [S. l.], 29 abr. 2025. Disponível em: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/open-questions/why-even-try-if-you-have-ai. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
ROZENBLIT, Leonid; KEIL, Frank. The misunderstood limits of folk science: an illusion of explanatory depth. Cognitive Science, Medford, v. 26, n. 5, p. 521-562, 2002. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog2605_1. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
RUDOLF, Jurgen; ISMAIL, Fadhil; TAN, Shannon; SEAH, Pauline. Don’t believe the hype. AI myths and the need for a critical approach in Higher Education. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, Perth, v. 8, n. 1, p. 1-22, 2025. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2025.8.1.1. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
SANNAZZARO, Jorgelina. Black Mirror: la ciencia ficción como punta de lanza para una reflexión ética de los usos sociales de la tecnología. Artefactos, Salamanca, v. 5, n. 1, p. 185-193, 2012. Disponível em: https://revistas.usal.es/cinco/index.php/artefactos/article/view/12428/12763. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2026.
SELWYN, Neil. On the limits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education. Nordisk tidsskrift for pedagogikk og kritikk, Oslo, v. 10, n. 1, p. 3-14, 2024. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.23865/ntpk.v10.6062. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
SERRANO, Christyna. Empowering Education in the Age of AI: moving beyond the Banking Model with Freire's problem-posing approach. GitHub, [S. l.], 2025. Disponível em: https://drc-berkeley.github.io/freire-ai-pedagogy/. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
SIDORKIN, Alexander M. Leapfrogging effect hypothesis: Generative AI as a permanent scaffold in Higher Education. SSRN Electronic Journal, [S. I.], 2025. Disponível em: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5230565. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
SUÁREZ-GUERRERO, Cristóbal, RIVERA-VARGAS, Pablo; RAFFAGHELLI, Juliana Elisa. EdTech myths: towards a critical digital educational agenda. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, Abingdon, v. 32, n. 5, p. 605-620, 2023. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2023.2240332. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
TRAN, Michael; BALASOORIYA, Chinthaka; SEMMLER, Carolyn; RHEE, Joel. Generative artificial intelligence: the “more knowledgeable other”. Nature Digital Medicine, Londres, v. 8, n. 430, p. 1-3, 2025. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01823-8. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
VASCONCELOS, Yumara Lúcia et al. Construtivismo na Educação a Distância. Ciência, Ciências Humanas e Educação, Londrina, v. 16, n. 4, p. 338-348, 2015. Disponível em: https://revistaensinoeeducacao.pgsskroton.com.br/article/download/3287/2953. Acesso em: 25 nov. 2025.
VYGOTSKY, Lev S. Mind in society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978.
WEIDLICH, Joshua et al. ChatGPT in education: an effect in search of a cause. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, [S. I.], v. 41, n. 5, p. 1-10, 2025. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.70105. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
ZAWACKI-RICHTER, Olaf; MARÍN, Victoria I.; BOND, Melissa; GOUVERNEUR, Franziska. Systematic review of research on Artificial Intelligence applications in Higher Education: where are the educators? International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, [S. I.], v. 16, n. 39, p. 1-27, 2019. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-0171-0. Acesso em: 26 nov. 2025.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Marcelo Sabbatini
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
A submissão de originais para este periódico implica na transferência, pelos autores, dos direitos de publicação impressa e digital. Os direitos autorais para os textos publicados são do autor, com direitos do periódico sobre a primeira publicação. Os autores somente poderão utilizar os mesmos textos em outras publicações indicando claramente este periódico como o meio da publicação original.
