AIF Insights No. 7 (2026) | Learning with Generative AI: Making Thinking Harder, Not Easier

This article argues that the educational impact of generative AI depends not on access but on patterns of use. While GenAI can create an illusion of mastery by encouraging cognitive offloading and passive consumption, it can also function as a cognitive amplifier when used to increase effort, deepen reasoning, and strengthen self-regulated learning. The discussion highlights three common confusions — offloading versus desirable difficulty, fluency versus understanding, and plausibility versus accuracy — and proposes a three-purpose framework of inquiry, practice, and production. The central claim is that GenAI improves learning only when it preserves learners’ cognitive work, supports deliberate practice, and reinforces verification, accountability, and critical judgment.