Does AI Stop Children From Learning? — The Economist
The first large-scale evidence on AI’s educational effects is in — and it’s a split verdict. The Economist’s Graphic detail team covers a study of 26,811 Chinese secondary pupils (12-18) tracked from January 2023 to June 2025, where ~80% used models like Doubao and DeepSeek. What the data shows: Homework up, time down: after six months, AI users’ homework scores rose 18% across all subjects, and per-assignment time fell from 64 to 45 minutes Exams down: the same students scored 20% below non-users on exams — and homework scores, which once predicted exam performance, now invert it The mechanism: the exam drop concentrates among students who rushed their homework; those who used AI but spent as long as non-users paid little penalty Tutor vs. answer machine: strong exam performers weren’t copy-pasting — they used the chatbots to explain concepts and solve specific problems, not to do the work Corroboration: a Middlebury lab study had undergrads learn an unfamiliar topic with or without a chatbot — AI users scored higher, and the advantage persisted a week later Why it matters: the same technology flips sign depending on how it’s used. AI is a productivity tool that becomes a learning-avoidance tool when it offloads the thinking exams later test. As one of the researchers put it, students “must resist the temptation to reach for an AI-generated answer before thinking things through for themselves.” ...