AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance

2026/04/06 by Grace Liu, Brian Christian, Tsvetomira Dumbalska +2 · 63 voices · 4 citations
#cs.AI

paper · pdf

Abstract

People often optimize for long-term goals in collaboration: A mentor or companion doesn't just answer questions, but also scaffolds learning, tracks progress, and prioritizes the other person's growth over immediate results. In contrast, current AI systems are fundamentally short-sighted collaborators - optimized for providing instant and complete responses, without ever saying no (unless for safety reasons). What are the consequences of this dynamic? Here, through a series of randomized controlled trials on human-AI interactions (N = 1,222), we provide causal evidence for two key consequences of AI assistance: reduced persistence and impairment of unassisted performance. Across a variety of tasks, including mathematical reasoning and reading comprehension, we find that although AI assistance improves performance in the short-term, people perform significantly worse without AI and are more likely to give up. Notably, these effects emerge after only brief interactions with AI (approximately 10 minutes). These findings are particularly concerning because persistence is foundational to skill acquisition and is one of the strongest predictors of long-term learning. We posit that persistence is reduced because AI conditions people to expect immediate answers, thereby denying them the experience of working through challenges on their own. These results suggest the need for AI model development to prioritize scaffolding long-term competence alongside immediate task completion.

Citations

• How AI Impacts Skill Formation
• Endoscopist deskilling risk after exposure to artificial intelligence in colonoscopy: a multicentre, observational study
• Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task
• ELEPHANT: Measuring and understanding social sycophancy in LLMs
• Binary climate data visuals amplify perceived impact of climate change
• Why human-AI relationships need socioaffective alignment
• Gradual Disempowerment: Systemic Existential Risks from Incremental AI Development
• AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking
• On Targeted Manipulation and Deception when Optimizing LLMs for User Feedback
• Beyond Preferences in AI Alignment
• Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals.
• A hot/cool-system analysis of delay of gratification: Dynamics of willpower.
• Shared Cooperative Activity

Cited by

• AI Assistants Overassist
• Curriculum design in the age of AI
• Faster Completion, Less Learning: Generative AI Reduced Study Time on Math Problems and the Knowledge They Build
• The efficiency-gain illusion: People underestimate the rate of AI use and overestimate its benefits on simple tasks

Discussions

• there was a scientific study recently that showed using ai for even as little as 15 minutes reduces your persistence, making you more likely to give up on a task if you can't use ai for it, less likel [bsky, 1292 points, 5 comments]
• The study is here, and it's fascinating: arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 [bsky, 111 points, 2 comments]
• Apparently, collaborating with AI impairs unassisted performance because it optimises on short-term goals not long-term. The frame is the trick; you can't actually 'collaborate' with a synthetic token [bsky, 105 points, 3 comments]
• AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance [lobsters, 60 points, 25 comments]
• I've been saying for a long time that AI tools promote shortcuts and by doing so skip the learning experience which involves persistence (like the article linked here suggests), but also making mistak [bsky, 53 points, 2 comments]
• There's an AI RCT paper that claims to provide "causal evidence that AI assistance reduces persistence and hurts independent performance" that has already received over a thousand likes and shares so [bsky, 50 points, 4 comments]
• Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus. arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 34 points, 0 comments]
• Our Evolutionary Biology graduate program at SDSU is drafting an AI policy that all grad students must adhere to and sign in order to turn in their thesis to the grad college. Does your grad program h [bsky, 24 points, 1 comments]
• AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance [hn, 20 points, 4 comments]
• There is good reason to believe that using AI even for ~10 minutes hampers your abilities long term Study link: arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 13 points, 0 comments]
• This study is being cited on YouTube but uh... Idk. Reading it... I'm not that impressed. arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 11 points, 4 comments]
• “Yet these findings need not be cause for pessimism. Rather, they point toward a clear design imperative…. This requires rethinking how AI systems are built to collaborate with humans, **and just as t [bsky, 11 points, 0 comments]
• "Men have become the tools of their tools." -Thoreau, 1854 "After just ∼10 minutes of AI-assisted problem-solving, people who lost access to the AI performed worse and gave up more frequently than tho [bsky, 8 points, 0 comments]
• A real gut-punch of an essay; argues that there is a *causal link* between AI use and degraded motivation/persistence with critical thinking. Still under review but honestly the study is compelling. A [bsky, 7 points, 0 comments]
• AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance “…although AI assistance improves performance in the short-term, people perform significantly worse without AI and are more likely t [bsky, 7 points, 0 comments]
• 2/2 arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 5 points, 0 comments]
• not super up to date on the educational side but got a bunch persistent degradation of core learning behaviors with LLMs: arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 (preprint but looks solid) cognitive surrender (tri-s [bsky, 4 points, 2 comments]
• AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance [hn, 4 points, 0 comments]
• The "give-up machine" is such a great description of generative AI chatbots... most of all because it's true, as this recent study found: arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 3 points, 1 comments]
• More evidence re: the pipeline problem !! arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 [bsky, 3 points, 0 comments]
• AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance [hn, 2 points, 0 comments]
• "AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance" (new pre-print, not peer reviewed yet, but it seems pretty solid). arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]
• A new study, conducted by researchers at MIT and the University of Oxford, has, for the first time, established a causal link between the use of artificial intelligence and a rapid decline in human co [bsky, 2 points, 1 comments]
• Mein Geheim-Tipp für die nächste virale Studie, die „beweist“, wie dumm KI macht: arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 Für #LernenmitKI interessant: Die Studie zeigt einen kurzfristigen, experimentell nachgewiese [bsky, 2 points, 1 comments]
• I came across this study recently. I wonder that it could be a contributing factor: arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]
• Das ist das, worum es dabei eigentlich geht und das Einzige, was diese hohen Summen rechtfertigt [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
• Wow. "When AI routinely completes tasks in seconds, the reference point for how long a task should take can shift – and as a consequence, unaided work starts to feel counterfactually more effortful, a [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
• arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 Can't even think anymore as well. I never use AI tho, obviously... One of the reasons is this ⬇️. I've experienced the "low persistence effect" first hand when I used ai for c [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
• AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
• Une étude documentée de Carnegie Mellin semble montrer une baisse de persévérance et de concentration chez ceux qui utilisent les IA générative en interrogation directe et non en appui de leur expérie [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
• literally the first thought i had looking at this data: you told the participants it literally doesn't matter what answers they give to the questions. no shit the people you started with an answer key [bsky, 1 points, 1 comments]
• "People often optimize for long-term goals in collaboration - in contrast, current AI systems are fundamentally short-sighted collaborators - optimized for providing instant and complete responses, wi [bsky, 1 points, 1 comments]
• "AI assistance impairs independent performance and reduces persistence." arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 #solidstatelife #ai #genai #llms #psychology #persistence [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
• Here's two more for you. arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 www.apa.org/pubs/journal... [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]
• The study: arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 #ai #neurological #flatline #cognative #failure [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• 10 minutes of AI-assisted problem solving was enough to tank performance when the AI was removed. people didn't just get worse answers, they stopped trying https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 the boiling [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• Hm, it's a bit worse than I thought arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]
• I hope they become like dodos and walk off that cliff 😂 arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]
• "Across a variety of tasks, including mathematical reasoning and reading comprehension, we find that although AI assistance improves performance in the short-term, people perform significantly worse w [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]
• Non, ce ne sont pas les mêmes. Ce les sont résultats de recherches de plus en plus concordantes qui démontrent les corrélations très fortes et à très court terme entre usage des IAg et baisse des capa [bsky, 0 points, 2 comments]
• arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 “Here, through a series of randomized controlled trials on human-AI interactions (N=1222), we provide causal evidence for two key consequences of AI assistance: reduced persis [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• La IA en las clases está aquí para quedarse y el rol del docente es aaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• „We posit that persistence is reduced because AI conditions people to expect immediate answers, thereby denying them the experience of working through challenges on their own.” https://arxiv.org/abs/2 [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]
• Investigadores afirman aportar la primera evidencia causal de que depender de la IA para ayudar con el trabajo cognitivo "intensivo en razonamiento" puede deteriorar rápidamente la capacidad intelectu [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• "AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance" https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 This makes the important point of a long-term shift in learning if we're trained on immediate, sy [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• This study found measurable differences in persistence based on ten minutes of use of AI. The study itself is very readable, and explores possible mechanisms. arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• https://bsky.app/profile/lobste.rs.web.brid.gy/post/3mjlg2s46p272 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance https://lobste.rs/s/r4dspa #practices #ai [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• 1/ New study: even brief AI help reduces how long people persist and tanks their performance once the help is gone. The crutch doesn't just lean. It weakens the leg. arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]
• The evidence is stacking up that AI use rapidly degrades cognitive ability/effort. From RCTs in >1200 people by Oxford, MIT, CMU & UCLA: AI use impairs people's future AI-unassisted performance and re [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• here's the paper oops arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]
• arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• Some more ammunition: AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 Thinking—Fast, Slow, and Artificial: How AI is Reshaping Human Reasoning and the Rise [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]
• How exciting! Also, sorry but a shameless plug for our recent paper that might be relevant to your podcast and audience! arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• No comment needed. The title says it all (of course you should read at least the abstract too) "AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance" arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• AI Assistance Reduces Persistence and Hurts Independent Performance arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• experiment on 1200+ subjects, 10 minutes of AI use speeds short term performance but destroys persistence. Long term performance suffers. AI trains us, not in a good way. arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• The authors ran an RCT (N=1,222) on whether short AI use erodes independent performance. After 10-15 min using GPT-5 on fractions or reading comp, participants who lost AI access scored lower and gave [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]
• Related to chatbots being awful for us, have you seen this preprint? arxiv.org/abs/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• This is pre-print, but good lord does it confirm every prior I have about the effect of GPT on our ability to think and persist despite obstacles [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
• AI reduces human persistence arxiv.org/pdf/2604.04721 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

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