One of world's best school systems is among its heaviest AI users, PISA finds

A study by the OECD found that students who use AI for specific schoolwork tasks tend to perform worse in science than those who do not. Singapore, which utilizes AI extensively for academic purposes, has the highest weekly use rate at 66%, compared to the OECD average of 46%. Only 4% of Singapore students reported never or almost never using AI chatbots for schoolwork, while the OECD average is 14%.

Among Singapore students, 46% use AI for preliminary research on new topics, 45% use it to draft text for writing assignments, and 41% use it to summarize read texts. The largest gap was found in summarizing reading, where daily users scored nearly 30 points below non-users. Bloomberg reported that students who never or almost never use AI for writing assignments scored 28 points higher than those who use it daily.

The OECD describes these findings as associations, noting that weaker students may be more likely to utilize AI. However, weekly users of AI for general purposes performed similarly to non-users. Students who use a chatbot specifically to help them learn scored the highest in science at around 500 points. Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's director for education and skills, warned that AI may separate task performance from actual learning, leading students to excel without grasping the underlying concepts.

Singapore's mean science score was the highest in the world at 560, compared to the OECD average of 482. Chinese jurisdictions and Singapore had the highest performers across science, mathematics, and reading. However, 29% of Singapore students reported that peers are often distracted by digital devices during science lessons, costing them 6 points in science after adjusting for socio-economic profile.