Researchers conducted a randomized experiment examining the effects of artificial intelligence tools on classroom instruction and student outcomes. The study, led by Alp Sungu at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, involved 193 teachers and over 2,800 middle and high school students at a private school chain in Turkey during spring of 2025. Half of the teachers received access to a customized ChatGPT-based teaching assistant aligned with Turkey’s national curriculum, while the other half continued their standard practices.
Over a 10-week period, teachers with access to the AI tool primarily used it to generate lecture notes, assignments, and exams. Students in these classrooms reported significantly lower levels of enjoyment, interest, and perceived importance of their classes compared to control group students. The decline in intrinsic motivation was particularly pronounced among students whose teachers had already been frequent AI users before the experiment began.
Academic achievement remained relatively stable overall, but notable declines appeared among students whose teachers had demonstrated weaker performance prior to the study. These students scored lower on externally administered standardized exams and reported reduced confidence. The researchers did not observe classrooms or analyze the specific materials generated by the AI tool, but Sungu theorized that stronger teachers may have treated AI output as a starting point for revision and customization, while weaker teachers may have relied on generated materials with minimal modification.
Sungu suggested that reliance on uniform, AI-generated materials may have diminished the personal instructional voice that makes teaching engaging. He cautioned against concluding that AI technology is inherently harmful to education, but emphasized that providing teachers with access to AI tools alone does not guarantee improved instruction. He advocated for teacher training programs, thoughtful guardrails, and improved interface design to help educators use AI in ways that preserve human judgment and creativity.
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