Researchers find 10 minutes of AI use impairs problem-solving
Updated
Updated · WIRED · May 6
Researchers find 10 minutes of AI use impairs problem-solving
9 articles · Updated · WIRED · May 6
In three online experiments involving several hundred participants, teams from Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Oxford and UCLA found users performed worse and quit more often once AI help was withdrawn.
The study tested tasks including fractions and reading comprehension, suggesting AI can raise short-term performance while weakening persistence and the learning needed to build foundational skills.
MIT's Michiel Bakker said the findings do not argue for banning AI, but for designing tools that coach or scaffold users rather than simply providing answers.
Is AI's short-term productivity boost worth the long-term cost to our own intelligence?
As AI reshapes learning, are we raising a generation that cannot think for itself?