The findings add to concerns that students may be letting AI do too much of the thinking for them
AI usage is affecting students’ test scores. New OECD data shows that teenagers who rely heavily on chatbots for assignments performed worse in science than students who rarely use the technology.
Among 15-year-olds surveyed across 91 countries, students who seldom used AI to write assignments scored an average of 509 in science. Those using it every day scored just 481.
The difference amounts to roughly a year and a half of schooling, even after accounting for socioeconomic background.
The findings add to concerns that students may be letting AI do too much of the thinking for them. Researchers call this “cognitive offloading,” where students hand difficult tasks over to technology instead of working through them independently.
However, the OECD does not suggest abandoning AI. Students who used it once or twice a week often performed better than both heavy users and those who barely used it.
The message is simple: AI can support learning, but it should not replace it.