From The Mechanization of Learning To The Illusion of Competencies in The Era of Generative Artificial Intelligence. A Critical Look From The Popular University of Cesar
Keywords:
cognitive shortcut, generative artificial intelligence, illusion of competencies, cognitive externalization, critical thinking, formative assessment.Abstract
The research analyzes the impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AGI) on deep learning processes at the Popular University of Cesar. Under a phenomenological-hermeneutical qualitative approach, we worked with 42 students and 15 teachers during the 2024-2 and 2025-1 semesters. The findings confirm the existence of a phenomenon that we have called a "cognitive shortcut": the systematic replacement of the effort of elaboration, verification, and argumentation with AI-generated responses.
The study shows that 78% of students use tools such as ChatGPT-4o, Claude and Gemini as the first source in the face of an academic difficulty. Although this raises the average grade of written products from 3.8 to 4.3, it drastically reduces the capacity for oral support, going from 81% of concepts explained correctly in students without dependency, to only 34% in students with high dependency.
This gap between product and real competence is what the international literature calls the "illusion of competence" and "cognitive surrender" (Baker, 2025; MIT, 2025). Far from being a problem of laziness, it is the symptom of an evaluation system that for decades rewarded educational mechanization. We conclude that the university should not prohibit, but rather redesign its didactics towards a connective-constructivist model where AI functions as a cognitive partner that provokes cognitive conflict, not evades it.
