Really do not know if a carbon air filter is superior to those plain paper types, no longer have access to the air quality equipment.
But sure like reading the advertisement on the box, so pay a little extra to use these.
With any new vehicle, manage to get a shop manual to answer these questions. Paper is rapidly becoming history.
Did have access to the GM website, that didn't last very long, required to have a new password every 90 days. If you can find a nice dealer, would be happy to print out several pages of the subject you wanted. This is also becoming history, a lot more concerned about getting their money from GM for warranty repair work than anything else.
So whose is the problem, your dealer or GM?