Amplifier or substitute? A systematic review of generative AI’s impact on higher-order cognitive skills among university students

BackgroundAs generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) becomes embedded in university learning environments, understanding its effects on students’ higher-order cognitive development has become one of the most pressing questions in educational research.MethodsThis systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines, synthesizing 89 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2024 and 2026 from Web of Science and Scopus. Narrative synthesis was employed to integrate findings across studies.ResultsGenAI’s cognitive effects were neither uniform nor unconditional: positive outcomes were documented in 40.4% of studies and mixed or conditional effects in 23.6%. ChatGPT was the predominant tool examined (n = 61, 68.5%), and mixed-methods designs were most prevalent (42.7%). Critically, 55.1% of studies employed no specified pedagogical strategy, and explicit theoretical frameworks were identified in only 25.8% of the corpus. Over-reliance emerged as the leading cognitive risk (33.7%), followed by reduced analytical autonomy (20.2%) and cognitive offloading (18.0%).DiscussionThese findings support a Dual-Mechanism Model: GenAI functions as a cognitive amplifier under structured pedagogical conditions and as a cognitive substitute under unguided use. The evidence calls on universities to anchor GenAI integration within deliberate instructional frameworks that preserve students’ cognitive agency and foreground autonomous higher-order reasoning.