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5 stories found

Work & marketsChina+4 clusters01

AI made homework faster while exam performance fell

A 30-month study of 26,811 Chinese secondary-school students estimates that generative AI raised homework scores by 18% and cut completion time by 30%, while monthly exam scores fell 20% within six months and high-stakes entrance-exam scores declined over longer exposure. The losses were concentrated among the roughly 80% of AI users whose unusually fast, high-scoring homework suggested that they were outsourcing the work rather than using AI alongside sustained effort.

3 min
Social good & healthUnited States+4 clusters02

Teen AI use is common—and emotional reliance tracks higher risk

Preliminary research from The Jed Foundation surveyed more than 5,500 middle- and high-school students across 21 U.S. schools and districts between October 2025 and April 2026. Four in five had used AI; more than half used it for academics, nearly one third for relationship or problem-solving advice, more than one in ten for companionship, and nearly three in five when sad, stressed, or lonely. Students who turned to AI for emotional support, advice, difficult emotions, or companionship were also more likely to report poorer mental health, loneliness, and a history of suicidal thoughts or behaviors.

3 min
EnvironmentUnited States+4 clusters03

A 3.2-gigawatt AI campus puts community promises to the test

OpenAI plans to contract for 3.2 gigawatts of electricity for Project Camellia, a data-center campus in Effingham County, Georgia, with power arriving in phases from 2028 through 2032. OpenAI says it will pay the project’s full electrical infrastructure and service costs, reduce demand before households are affected during peaks, use closed-loop water cooling, provide $80 million in community benefits, and submit to annual independent public audits. County officials describe a $20 billion investment expected to create 400 long-term jobs.

3 min
Cognition & learningTurkey+2 clusters04

Sungu, Lira and Duckworth, “Generative AI Can Harm Teaching”

In a randomized field experiment across a chain of middle and high schools in Turkey, giving teachers a generative-AI support tool reduced students’ intrinsic motivation by 0.11 standard deviations. Average academic performance did not change, but students taught by lower-performing teachers experienced significant declines in both performance and confidence, showing that a tool that makes lesson preparation easier for teachers does not automatically improve the student experience.

3 min