Beyond outsourcing: comprehending, discovering, and advancing with AI as a cognitive partner

Generative AI tools are reshaping student learning, offering both opportunities and risks. While research indicates that students have integrated GenAI tools into their school tasks, little is known about how they use them and about the epistemic practices that emerge from their interactions with AI. This mixed-methods study explores how upper secondary students in Denmark use GenAI tools as cognitive partners and/or outsourcing tools. Drawing on theories of epistemic practices, hybrid minds, and cognitive partners, the study analyses 109 lived experience descriptions and survey data from 546 students. Qualitative findings reveal three emerging epistemic practices: comprehending, discovering, and advancing, demonstrating how students use AI to understand concepts, generate ideas, and improve their work. Quantitative analyses identify distinct student clusters, with differences in AI literacy and perceptions of AI as a learning or cheating tool. Findings highlight a need to guide students toward using AI as a cognitive partner.