GoKawiilOECD PISA data links frequent AI use to lower science scores in students
A 2025 OECD PISA study of over 760,000 15-year-olds across 91 countries found that, after controlling for socioeconomic status, students who never use AI generally outperformed AI users in science. The performance gap was largest for those using AI to summarize texts or draft assignments, and for those using it either rarely or daily, while moderate, intentional use—especially paired with training to critically evaluate AI outputs—showed smaller drops or even slight gains over non-users.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
This is the first major international dataset capturing the effects of mainstream AI adoption in classrooms, offering early evidence that how and how often students use AI matters more than whether they use it at all. It suggests schools need to actively teach critical evaluation of AI tools rather than simply allowing or banning access, since passive or task-outsourcing use appears to undermine learning while reflective, moderate use may support it.
- Students who never use AI outperformed AI users in science after adjusting for socioeconomic factors.
- Using AI to summarize or draft assignments hurt performance more than using it for research or general learning help.
- Training students to critically assess AI output correlated with AI users outperforming non-users.
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Published there as: “Students who use AI generally score worse at school”
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