{"slug": "ai-use-slashes-chinese-students-exam-scores-by-20-in-30-month-study", "title": "AI Use Slashes Chinese Students’ Exam Scores by 20% in 30-Month Study", "summary": "A 30-month study of over 26,000 Chinese students found that using generative AI tools like Alibaba's Qwen boosted homework scores by 18% but slashed exam performance by up to 20%, with the damage deepening over time. Researchers from Stockholm University and the University of Hong Kong warn that AI use erodes foundational skills, leading to significant declines in high-stakes entrance exams such as the gaokao and zhongkao.", "body_md": "**July 14, 2026, (Inside AI) —** A sweeping new study tracking over **26,000** Chinese students reveals a stark trade-off: while generative AI tools like Alibaba’s **Qwen** boost homework efficiency, they slash exam performance by up to a fifth, with the damage deepening over time.\n\nResearchers from **Stockholm University** and the **University of Hong Kong** followed middle and high school students in a central Chinese county for **30 months**, from September 2022 to June 2025. They compared AI users with non-users across homework grades, completion times, monthly tests, and high-stakes entrance exams.\n\nThe findings, published as a working paper, show that AI initially delivers a productivity windfall: homework scores rose **18%** and completion time shrank from **64 to 45 minutes**. But within six months, monthly exam scores dropped by **20%**. After two years, the gaokao—China’s brutal college entrance exam—saw an **18%** decline, while the zhongkao high school entrance exam plunged **24%**.\n\n## The Brain Drain Timeline\n\nThe study documents what researchers call a \"brain drain\" effect that unfolds in stages. Short-term gains mask a gradual erosion of foundational skills, as students outsource thinking to chatbots. The pattern held across subjects and school types, suggesting a systemic risk.\n\n“AI boosted short-term efficiency but harmed long-term learning,” the authors note. The two-year lag before full impact emerges is especially troubling, as it may hide damage until critical exams.\n\nThis isn’t the first warning. A **2024** University of Pennsylvania study found that ChatGPT users solved **48%** more math problems during practice but scored **17%** worse on tests. The Chinese data, however, is far larger and longer, capturing real-world academic trajectories rather than lab settings.\n\nCritics argue that AI’s role in education isn’t inherently harmful. Properly designed, it could act as a Socratic tutor—asking guiding questions rather than giving answers. But most students use it as a shortcut, copying solutions without understanding.\n\n## China’s AI Classroom Experiment\n\nThe study’s context is uniquely Chinese. Alibaba’s Qwen is deeply integrated into educational platforms, and AI homework helpers are widely marketed. Yet China’s exam-centric system leaves no room for error: a few points on the gaokao can determine lifetime career paths.\n\n“This is a wake-up call for policymakers everywhere,” said **Dr. Li Wei**, an education technology researcher not involved in the study. “We need to rethink how AI is deployed in schools—not as a crutch, but as a coach.”\n\nThe findings also raise questions about equity. Students with less access to AI may be forced to develop stronger independent skills, potentially widening gaps in unexpected ways.\n\nMeanwhile, AI companies continue to push classroom tools. Google’s **LearnLM** and Khan Academy’s **Khanmigo** promise personalized tutoring, but long-term impact studies remain scarce. The Chinese research may force a reckoning.\n\nAs schools worldwide rush to adopt AI, this study suggests a cautious approach: integrate it in ways that build understanding, not bypass it. Otherwise, the next generation may ace their homework but fail the test of real knowledge.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-use-slashes-chinese-students-exam-scores-by-20-in-30-month-study", "canonical_source": "https://insideai.news/news/generative-ai/ai-use-slashes-chinese-students-exam-scores-by-20-in-30-month-study/4098/", "published_at": "2026-07-14 03:19:29+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-14 03:21:41.067167+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "generative-ai", "ai-ethics", "ai-policy", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Alibaba", "Qwen", "Stockholm University", "University of Hong Kong", "Google", "LearnLM", "Khan Academy", "Khanmigo"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-use-slashes-chinese-students-exam-scores-by-20-in-30-month-study", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-use-slashes-chinese-students-exam-scores-by-20-in-30-month-study.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-use-slashes-chinese-students-exam-scores-by-20-in-30-month-study.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-use-slashes-chinese-students-exam-scores-by-20-in-30-month-study.jsonld"}}