  In the near future, mobile networks are expected to broaden their services
and coverage to accommodate a larger user base and diverse user needs. Thus,
they will increasingly rely on artificial intelligence (AI) to manage network
operation and control costs, undertaking complex decision-making roles. This
shift will necessitate the application of techniques that incorporate critical
thinking abilities, including reasoning and planning. Symbolic AI techniques
already facilitate critical thinking based on existing knowledge. Yet, their
use in telecommunications is hindered by the high cost of mostly manual
curation of this knowledge and high computational complexity of reasoning
tasks. At the same time, there is a spurt of innovations in industries such as
telecommunications due to Generative AI (GenAI) technologies, operating
independently of human-curated knowledge. However, their capacity for critical
thinking remains uncertain. This paper aims to address this gap by examining
the current status of GenAI algorithms with critical thinking capabilities and
investigating their potential applications in telecom networks. Specifically,
the aim of this study is to offer an introduction to the potential utilization
of GenAI for critical thinking techniques in mobile networks, while also
establishing a foundation for future research.
