Perceived effects of GenAI on independent thinking and creativity are polarized among Chinese HSS students, with substantial minorities reporting declines¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q1–q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Over half of students perceived gains in independent thinking and creativity, but 26.12% perceived a decline in independent thinking and 19.67% a decline in creativity. → Lei Fan and Fangxue Liu 2026 q2 i? The polarization suggests GenAI can act either as a dialogic partner encouraging critical engagement or as an authoritative source discouraging questioning. → Lei Fan and Fangxue Liu 2026 (2)

Evidence¶

Lei Fan and Fangxue Liu 2026¶

Lei Fan and Fangxue Liu. (2026). The impact of generative artificial intelligence on academic development of Chinese students in humanities and social sciences. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.24104 doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.24104

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Survey result on independent thinking (Figure 2a): "22.08% of respondents perceived a significant improvement and 34.21% an improvement"; separately 23.39% perceived a decline and 2.73% a significant decline.

"22.08% of respondents perceived a significant improvement and 34.21% an improvement, indicating that over half of the students viewed GenAI as supportive of independent thinking."

Lei Fan and Fangxue Liu 2026 (2)¶

Lei Fan and Fangxue Liu. (2026). The impact of generative artificial intelligence on academic development of Chinese students in humanities and social sciences. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.24104

q1 · i? · associational · r2

Authors' theoretical interpretation of the polarized independent-thinking and creativity findings, drawing on epistemic cognition and dialogic learning theory; no effect size is printed.

"From an epistemic cognition perspective, GenAI can function either as a dialogic partner that encourages critical engagement or as an authoritative source that discourages questioning"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Creativity — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Perceived GenAI gains differ by discipline: arts and economics/management students report stronger cognitive and motivational gains than education and law students — related
• Male Chinese HSS students reported higher perceived GenAI gains in independent thinking, creativity and motivation, with minimal gender difference in performance — related
• Perceived gains in creativity, independent thinking and motivation rise sharply among students with more than three years of GenAI experience, though the comparison is cross-sectional — related
• Nearly four in five Chinese HSS students perceived academic performance gains from GenAI, which the authors caution may reflect assessment limitations — related
• Only about a third of design students report reduced creativity or project ownership from GenAI use — related
• Chinese HSS students report near-consensus perceived learning-efficiency gains from GenAI, largely independent of use duration and discipline — related