Artificial intelligence technologies have established a significant presence in the 21st century as supportive tools used across many fields. The field of education stands out as one of the areas where digital transformation and AI-powered applications are becoming increasingly widespread. In this era where the development of higher-order thinking skills is expected, how to leverage artificial intelligence technologies and the role these technologies play in educational processes have become major topics of discussion. An individual’s ability to solve problems encountered in daily life and engage in original production is largely linked to critical thinking skills. For this reason, the development of critical thinking skills is regarded as one of the fundamental requirements of contemporary educational philosophy. However, the question of how AI technologies should be integrated into this process remains a subject of debate. While some argue that the use of AI could negatively impact cognitive processes, others propose that these technologies can serve as tools to support cognitive processes. One area where critical thinking can be concretely observed is reading ability. Today, the development of a critical reader identity among individuals is considered important not only for their personal development but also for their role as conscious and responsible citizens. In this context, it is necessary to examine the role of AI-supported applications in developing critical reading skills in the age of artificial intelligence. In this section, the role of AI-supported applications in higher-order thinking, critical thinking, and critical reading processes is discussed based on the existing literature additionally, a concrete application demonstrating how critical reading skills can be developed in Turkish language classes is presented using the example of Gemini, one of the AI applications widely used today. In conclusion, it can be stated that the impact of AI-supported applications on the teaching-learning process varies depending on how these technologies are utilized. Indeed, the distinction between individuals delegating their cognitive processes to AI and using AI as a supportive tool in this process highlights that AI’s role in the learning process is a determining factor.