EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENERATIVE AI DEPENDENCY AND COGNITIVE FAILURE AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

In the current digital society, artificial intelligence tools have integrated with the lives of students in academia. While these have been associated with positive learning outcomes and increased productivity, their relevance may also trigger issues of dependence and cognition impairment, which significantly impacts students’ psychology. The study adopts a correlational cross-sectional research design to be carried out among university students  in the age bracket of 18years and above from both public and private universities in Punjab, selected through convenient sampling. Data has been collected using the Generative AI Dependence Scale developed by Goh et al., Cognitive Failures Questionnaire 2.0 designed by Goodhew & Edwards, and. This study results shows that AI dependence (cognitive preoccupation, withdrawal, and negative consequence), is significantly (p = .212*) positively correlate with cognitive failures and AI Dependency has shown a significant impact (p = .034*) on Cognitive Failure but no significant gender difference (p = .566*) on AI Dependency and cognitive failure. The findings of this study helped in understanding the psychological impact of AI dependence and address the educational and clinical responses to enable students to apply AI appropriately, promote cognitive functioning.