Critical Thinking at the Dawn of AI
Critical Thinking at the Dawn of AI
COMPANY INSIGHTS | JUNE 5, 2025
photo source: Maury Fredricks, January 17, 2017, Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas
This month, one year ago, we were in the final stretch of work with our undergraduate teams at Northwestern University.
Design Thinking Communication (DTC) is a prerequisite class co-instructed by Communication and Engineering professors over ten demanding weeks. The student teams consist of 4-6 students from different education tracks at the University.
Our class roadmap and milestones
The curriculum covers research and development activities, from exploring an unmet need to ideation, initial design and engineering studies, and creating mockups and prototypes for the end user.
In most classes, we are assigned a client's problem statement. We are also expanding our practice and curriculum to focus on identifying an unmet need and developing a problem statement using "white space" methodologies.
In both instances, we cover a lot of ground over ten weeks. Critical thinking skills are stretched rapidly to meet assignments and deliver tangible work products that help improve the everyday lives of end users.
Application of emerging technologies to critical thinking
Over the past few years, we have been challenged to construct limits on AI's application in the creative and technical fields of study and business.
The DTC curriculum requires the development of a problem statement by the end of week 2 of the ten-week class. Last year, one of our students asked us if the teams could leverage AI to quickly explore and organize a list of 100 problems found on campus. Our quick and definitive response was no. The logic for our response was founded on a belief that critical thinking requires effort and patience with refining problem statements. There are no shortcuts in the early phases of innovation.
The student teams adhered to our requirement to avoid using AI. Every team in two sections produced fantastic work and delivered excellent results for our clients.
Our faculty continues to explore appropriate guidelines for applying AI to our studies. The technology is accelerating at warp speed. There is a place for the application of AI to speed our work and foster critical thinking when used in the right ways.
Emerging trends in creative and technical fields of study
My work with industry clients and universities over the past several decades has provided a unique perspective on emerging trends in the creative and technical fields of study.
Many students lack sketching abilities. In a rush to develop money shots and final deliverables, pencils and paper are quickly discarded in favor of digital tools to speed up the process and move to the next development phase. We encourage engineering students to create sketches using their skills. There is no bad sketch as long as it reflects critical thinking about the problem statement.
Wrap up
Innovation is arduous work. Critical thinking is a developed skill, and looking for shortcuts is sometimes easy. We check ourselves to stay curious and patient during the early phases of the process to find the right paths to the optimum solution.
Do you have thoughts on this? I'd love to hear how others balance AI and human-led problem-solving.
Maury Fredricks
CEO
Fredricks Design, Inc.
