AI assistance reduces persistence: persistence costs concentrate among learners who used AI for direct solutions, not hints¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoretical r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? In randomized experiments, participants who lost AI access after brief AI-assisted practice solved fewer problems and gave up more often than those who never had AI assistance, with costs concentrated among direct-solution users. → H. Chad Lane 2026

Evidence¶

H. Chad Lane 2026¶

H. Chad Lane. (2026). AIED's Unfinished Mission: Centering Agency and Motivation in the Age of Effortless Bypass. AIED 2026, CCIS 3032, pp. 502–516. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-29791-4_38

q2 · i? · theoretical · r3

The paper reports, citing Liu et al.'s randomized experiments, that brief AI-assisted practice reduced immediate engagement and carried over: those losing access "solved fewer problems and gave up more often" than never-assisted participants. Costs concentrated among direct-solution users; hint or clarification users showed no such impairments.

"participants who lost access to AI afterward solved fewer problems and gave up more often than participants who never had AI assistance. Critically, these persistence costs were concentrated among learners who used AI to obtain direct solutions"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Motivation — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• How genAI is used, not who uses it, predicts whether independent performance declines or improves — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• AI tools can enhance short-term task performance while undermining durable learning (the learning-performance paradox) — a broader claim this one bears on
• Pre-tests reduced adult learners' persistence in a MOOC, though they improved post-test scores among those who completed it — related
• One week later, the AI-access group's lead on unaided assessments shrinks to 3.9 pp (0.21 SD), short of statistical significance (p = 0.068) — reports the opposite
• Hint-not-solution is the most challenging rubric dimension, with scores ranging from 6% to 81% across models — related
• Intensive AI assistance predicts strong task performance even with low engagement, but follow-up performance is substantially higher only when intensive AI use is combined with sustained task engagement — related
• AI assistance impairs unassisted performance and persistence in reading comprehension, replicating the fraction-task effects in a second domain — related
• In a randomized experiment on fraction problems, participants who used an AI assistant solved fewer unassisted test problems and skipped more than control participants — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• The majority of AI-assisted participants self-report using the AI primarily to get answers directly, a pattern validated against chatlogs — related
• Among GPT-assisted students, proactive and critical engagement patterns are associated with higher exam scores while limited engagement shows little benefit relative to control — related
• The article reports observational patterns that AI assistance can improve short-term performance while reducing cognitive engagement and independent capability — a broader claim this one bears on
• Experiment 2 replicates the unassisted-performance impairment with a pretest-based exclusion, but the aggregate skip-rate difference does not reach significance — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Developers who used AI assistance scored 17% lower on a subsequent comprehension assessment than developers who completed the same tasks without AI, per the cited controlled study — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Practicing cover letter writing with an AI tool improved unassisted writing skill more than practicing without AI or not practicing, with benefits persisting one day later — related
• Most students report using LLMs to get solutions more often than they believe is ideal for learning, and this gap widened after the lesson — related
• Hints that instruction is suboptimal trigger compensatory self-regulation, but self-management carries cognitive and motivational costs that deplete over time — related