Artificial Intelligence and Critical Thinking in Vietnamese Higher Education: A Socio-Legal Systems Perspective

Nguyen Huy Hoang, Pham Hong Tuan

Abstract: This study examines how the widespread adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is reshaping the development of critical thinking among university students in Vietnam within the context of the country's post-2020 digital transformation agenda. Using a qualitative research design, the study conducts a documentary analysis of key Vietnamese legal and policy documents on education and technology issued between 2020 and 2026. To move beyond linear explanations, the research applies a Systems Thinking approach to analyze how legal mandates, cultural norms, and student cognitive behaviors interact through reinforcing feedback loops. The findings reveal a pronounced gap between policy intent and educational practice. While Vietnam's legal framework strongly promotes competency-based, autonomous learning, its implementation is constrained by deeply embedded cultural factors, particularly achievement-oriented evaluation practices (benh thanh tich) and face-saving norms. These conditions encourage students to rely on AI as a substitute for independent reasoning rather than as a support for learning, contributing to a gradual weakening of critical thinking capacity, conceptualized in this study as "cognitive atrophy". Based on this systemic diagnosis, the paper proposes a "Human-in-the-Loop Liberal Arts" model that repositions AI from an authoritative answer provider to a tool for critique, debate, and verification. By leveraging Vietnam's tradition of communal learning, the model aims to align digital transformation with the cultivation of critical, reflective, and autonomous thinkers. The study offers practical implications for assessment design, pedagogy, and policy governance in higher education systems facing similar socio-cultural conditions.

Keywords: Critical Thinking, Generative AI, Vietnamese Higher Education, Systems Thinking, Digital Transformation

How to Cite?: Nguyen Huy Hoang, Pham Hong Tuan, "Artificial Intelligence and Critical Thinking in Vietnamese Higher Education: A Socio-Legal Systems Perspective", Volume 15 Issue 1, January 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1113-1120, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26107143138, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26107143138