Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training

A new randomized study conducted by researchers at Bocconi University in collaboration with OpenAI Economic Research evaluated the distinct and complementary impacts of ChatGPT and critical-thinking training on student performance. The experiment involved more than 1,000 first-year undergraduate students working on a real-world business case to develop marketing recommendations for the university merchandise store. Students were randomly assigned to one of four groups receiving ChatGPT access, causal reasoning training, both, or neither. The findings revealed that access to ChatGPT improved the quality, logical coherence, and expert similarity of the students' work, helping novices produce more professional results. Meanwhile, an exercise in causal reasoning—a specific form of critical thinking—did not raise standard rubric scores, but enabled students to generate a wider range of more unique and distinct ideas. Students who received both ChatGPT access and the critical-thinking training demonstrated the benefits of each, showing strong logical coherence alongside high idea variety. According to the source, the results highlight that AI access and critical-thinking training play complementary roles. Furthermore, the mismatch between traditional grading rubrics and the broader benefits of critical thinking points to a wider challenge for schools, suggesting that as AI makes polished answers easier to produce, educational assessments may need to adapt to better measure originality and deeper understanding.