Critical thinking is a core competency of the 21st century, whether it is the arrival of artificial intelligence or the cultivation of outstanding engineers, critical thinking is important. However, the development of critical thinking has always been an open issue. This study explores the integration of TCSA method with artificial intelligence into engineering education. Through ENA analysis of 25 participants’ human-AI interaction records (444 co-occurrence codes), we compared the differences on critical thinking patterns between high and low performing groups, and deepened the distribution and impact of these differences on their cognitive types. The insights gained from integrating TCSA methods and generative artificial intelligence (GAI) into engineering education in this study lay the foundation for further exploration of improving engineering students’ critical thinking.