Language Models in Education

The thesis explores the role of neural language models in education and the development of critical thinking. After outlining how modern Transformer-based models work and their early applications in schools, the work analyzes the concept of critical thinking and the main tools used to assess it. Through two empirical studies, it investigates, on the one hand, the ability of language models to display forms of critical reasoning, and on the other, the influence of using ChatGPT on students. The results indicate that, when appropriately guided, the use of the chatbot can foster reflective and analytical processes, improving both the skill and the disposition toward critical thinking. The thesis concludes by exploring possible inclusive applications of AI, illustrating ChatGPT’s potential to support interaction and engagement among people with autistic traits.