What research suggests about how AI affects effort, understanding, and transfer, and where evidence is still emerging.
Summary
Simply put, knowledge is earned. Any other approach falls short.
Last updated December 19, 2025
Key Findings
- Don’t use AI to summarize information – students actually learn more from a Google search than an AI search, because AIs summarize information for you. When you Google something, you build that summary yourself from multiple sources. (Of course, now Google includes an AI summary…)
- AI-based tutors are helpful – but only when the students actually choose to use it