<![CDATA[Abstract Generative Artificial Intelligence expands students’ access to information while raising questions about how they evaluate, verify, and construct knowledge. This study explores students’ critical thinking through interactions with Generative Artificial Intelligence from a constructivist perspective, focusing on interaction patterns, information verification, and knowledge construction. A qualitative multisite case study was conducted at two secondary schools, involving students experienced in using Generative Artificial Intelligence and teachers who observed or facilitated its use. Data were collected through observations, interviews, documentation, and field notes, then analysed thematically using within-case and cross-case analysis. Findings indicate that students interacted with Generative Artificial Intelligence in situational, iterative, and dialogical ways, treating it as an additional learning resource. Critical thinking emerged when students encountered uncertainty, contradictions, or inadequate explanations, prompting them to question, compare, verify, and reassess responses using textbooks, teachers, peers, digital sources, prior knowledge, and practical testing. These processes enabled students to connect new information with knowledge, resolve inconsistencies, and reconstruct understanding through reflection and application. The study identifies critical thinking as a cognitive process linking AI interaction with constructivist knowledge construction. Its findings suggest that educational value depends on pedagogical practices supporting inquiry, verification, reflection, and knowledge reconstruction rather than access to generated information.]]>
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