Artificial intelligence in the development of reading comprehension skills

Abstract

The integration of artificial intelligence into educational processes has opened new possibilities for strengthening complex cognitive skills, particularly reading comprehension. However, in many school contexts its use remains limited and is not always aligned with sustained pedagogical planning. Within this framework, this study aimed to analyze the influence of artificial intelligence on the development of reading comprehension skills among second-year Baccalaureate students at the “Sagrado Corazón de Jesús” Educational Unit.The research adopted a quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered before and after a pedagogical intervention supported by the AI tool SciSpace. The results indicate that literal and global comprehension levels remained stable, while a notable improvement was observed in critical thinking skills, especially in evaluating information reliability and formulating reasoned opinions, reaching 100% in the posttest. In addition, students reported a positive perception of the usefulness of the tool. Overall, the findings suggest that artificial intelligence, when pedagogically integrated with clear instructional purposes, can support the development of higher-level reading comprehension and critical thinking in secondary education. These results should be interpreted in light of the specific educational context in which the study was conducted.