AI in studies: a help or a hindrance for children? Researchers flag falling exam marks

Today, children carry AI tools on their phones along with books in their school bags. If a question gets them stuck, they ask AI; if they need notes, they have them made there. This saves time and opens new routes to learning. But the real question is whether AI is teaching children or merely getting their work done.

As the use of AI grows, so does the question of whether children are becoming fully dependent on it. Because of this, their ability to think, understand and remember is declining. Some research has also found that with the growing use of AI, homework marks have gone up, but exam marks are falling sharply. This is a matter of great concern.

Getting an answer and learning are not the same thing. The trouble begins when a child asks AI for an answer directly, without trying to understand the question. The assignment gets completed, but the understanding of the subject does not necessarily grow. On top of that, if AI's answer is accepted as correct without checking, there is also a risk that something wrong is remembered. Some research also says that the effect of AI help is not the same on every child and every subject.

When a child neither understands the answer nor tests it, nor writes it in their own words, and simply submits it, the habit of thinking and solving questions independently begins to weaken. Getting an answer is one thing; understanding it is something entirely different.

So how should AI be used? Make it a helper, not a substitute for study. First read from the textbook yourself. Ask AI only about the part you do not understand. Then switch off AI, write the answer in your own words and try solving the question. Check the information obtained from AI against the textbook or a reliable source.

AI is neither wholly good nor wholly bad. What matters is not that it is being used, but whether the child is using it to learn or merely to finish work quickly. If it helps in understanding questions, practising and correcting one's mistakes, studies will go well. But if AI becomes the crutch for everything in place of thinking and hard work, learning will suffer.