AI made students 48% better, then 17% worse

AI made a thousand students 48 per cent better at maths. Then 17 per cent worse.

Researchers at Wharton ran a study. Half the students got ChatGPT for their practice problems. Half did not. The ChatGPT group improved 48 per cent during practice. Then the researchers took the AI away and tested everyone on the same exam. The students who had used ChatGPT scored 17 per cent worse than students who never touched it.

The AI did not teach them maths. It did the maths for them. They got weaker.

I see the same pattern with clients. They start using AI for everything. Speed of execution goes up. But when they outsource their critical thinking and judgement to AI, they find it harder to do things they handled without a second thought a year ago.

There is an important difference between handing over busywork and handing over thinking. Busywork is the right target. Invoice formatting, meeting summaries, first drafts of routine emails. That is the work that eats your time without building your skill.

But the decisions that shape your business, where knowing the client or the market is the edge, those stay with you. Hand them over and you lose the muscle that got you there.

AI works best when it clears the busywork so you can focus on the things that actually matter. Use it to free your time for deep thinking, not to replace it.

Pick one task you do this week. Ask yourself whether doing it makes you sharper or just takes up time. If it just takes up time, hand it to AI. If doing it well is part of what makes you good at your job, keep it.