Students using AI shortcuts for their homework may be sacrificing their test scores—even years down the line.
New research published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research found that among 26,811 Chinese students in grades seven through 12, AI adoption increased homework scores by 18% and cut down completion time by 30%. However, within six months, monthly exam scores decreased by 20%, and college entrance examples fell by 18% to 24%—with scores reaching their worst after two years.
Researchers from Stockholm University and University of Hong Kong pinpointed the type of student most likely to experience these diverging scores: those who “outsourced” homework, deploying AI to complete the homework accurately, but in little time. The poor test scores, both in the long- and short-term were driven by about 80% of these students. The emergence of this student profile not only exposes a dissonance in AI productivity versus actual productivity gains—it fuels an argument some educators and experts have against the unfettered use of technology in education more broadly.
“For students, completing these tasks efficiently is not the goal; learning from them is,” researchers wrote. “Hence, the rapid diffusion of generative AI tools among students in recent years has created widespread concerns about their learning…Our findings show that generative AI, which is likely to become a prevalent technology for education, has a substantial negative impact on student learning.”
