How to Improve Grades by Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

During a six-month study, researchers at Stockholm University and the University of Hong Kong followed 27,000 students between the ages of 12 and 18 in China. Eighty percent of the students had access to AI tools (Doubao, DeepSeek) while doing their homework, the other 20% were part of the control group and did not have access to AI.

The study shows a clear effect of the “AI/no AI” dichotomy: the homework performance of the group using AI increased by an average of 18%. In contrast, in tests without AI, the same group performed 20% worse than the control group. The study has not been reproduced independently yet.

In this case, we can say that AI technology “masks ignorance” in the sense that AI makes it possible to produce the right result without understanding the subject. As long as AI remains available, student performance increases. If it is withdrawn, it plummets. It doesn’t matter which AI app is used, this effect occurs for any software that does the work for you instead of guiding you to find the solution yourself.

The education system in many countries is facing a crucial choice point. A prohibition of AI is utopian and harmful. Using AI in education without adapting the assessment of knowledge leads to functional atrophy. The only way forward is to adapt the testing of knowledge: What is it about memorising facts or using them autonomously?