Generative AI and Critical Thinking: Expanding Bloom's Taxonomy

As AI tools like ChatGPT become embedded in education, do they enhance or hinder critical thinking?

This study revisits Bloom’s Taxonomy, proposing an expanded framework that incorporates AI-specific competencies across cognitive, affective, and metacognitive domains.

Using empirical data from a four-week study of MSc Marketing students, the research explores how AI influences students' engagement with critical thinking. The findings reveal a dual impact—while some students relied passively on AI-generated content, others actively refined, interrogated, and synthesized AI outputs, leading to deeper learning. The study identifies new competencies essential for AI-assisted education, including:

• Melioration – the ability to strategically combine AI-generated insights with traditional research.
• Interrogating and Refining AI – developing iterative questioning to challenge AI outputs.
• Ethical Reasoning – navigating academic integrity concerns in AI-assisted work.

The revised taxonomy presents a dynamic, non-linear model of learning, reflecting how students interact with AI in real-world educational settings. Rather than replacing traditional cognitive skills, AI introduces new layers of critical engagement, requiring both educators and students to rethink how knowledge is constructed.

This framework is an essential resource for educators, academic developers, and policymakers seeking practical strategies to integrate AI into curricula while preserving and enhancing critical thinking skills.

The framework is presented as an infographic in a jpg file and a text version of the infographic is provided in a Word document. The framework is fully explained in the article linked below.

Read the full study: Gonsalves, C. (2024). Generative AI’s Impact on Critical Thinking: Revisiting Bloom’s Taxonomy. Journal of Marketing Education, 02734753241305980.