WorkSeptember 9, 2026via The Verge AI
Students who use AI generally score worse at school
Why it matters
First global educational assessment since AI went mainstream shows learning outcomes diverging by use pattern. Practitioners in EdTech and enterprise training should track this as evidence that AI adoption without critical-thinking scaffolding underperforms.
Key signals
- OECD PISA 2025 data — first mainstream-AI era assessment
- 15-year-old students tested in science, math, reading
- General AI use correlates with lower scores
- Critical evaluation training moderates the effect (slight boost observed)
- Study global, multi-country sample
- OECD PISA 2025 study — first post-mainstream-AI assessment of 15-year-olds globally
- Students using AI for studying perform worse overall
- Critical evaluation training reverses the negative correlation — some students see slight boost
- Tests: science, math, reading across multiple countries
- Data collected in 2025, published Sept 2026
The hook
OECD data: students using AI for studying score worse — except those trained to critically evaluate it.
Students who use AI to help them study tend to perform worse at school than those who don't, according to data from a global OECD educational report. The situation is more complex than it sounds though, with certain types of AI use giving learners a slight boost, especially among students taught to …