<![CDATA[This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into geography instruction to improve students' knowledge acquisition and creative thinking skills. A quasi-experimental research design employing pretest and posttest assessments was implemented with two groups: an experimental group that integrated AI-assisted learning strategies and a control group that received conventional instruction without AI support. The instructional materials focused on disaster-related topics and were delivered over six learning sessions in accordance with the principles of Indonesia's Merdeka Curriculum. The findings revealed substantial improvements in the experimental group's learning outcomes, with mean knowledge scores increasing by 50.98% and creative thinking skills improving by 52.73%. AI-powered platforms, including ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, Scholarcy, and Scite, were incorporated to facilitate access to relevant academic literature, support information exploration, and encourage independent, inquiry-based learning. In comparison, the control group demonstrated a 26.41% improvement in knowledge scores and a 33% increase in creative thinking skills. These descriptive differences suggest that AI-assisted instruction may provide additional benefits for developing students' conceptual understanding, information literacy, and higher-order thinking skills compared with conventional teaching approaches. However, the reported percentage improvements alone do not establish statistically significant differences between the groups. Overall, the findings highlight the potential of AI-integrated geography instruction to support disaster-related learning and creative thinking development in alignment with the objectives of the Merdeka Curriculum. The study emphasizes the importance of integrating AI technologies strategically, ethically, and contextually to promote adaptive, meaningful, and student-centered learning experiences in contemporary educational settings.]]>
