Technology

Can AI be used to help students with their learning?

The main issue besides convenience is whether or not the use of AI actually helps students to understand and remember what they learn.

Learning Is More Than Getting the Answer

It is clear that there is a difference between completing a school assignment and actually learning something from it; although a student may get an answer in just a few seconds, this does not mean that they have understood or remembered the idea behind it. This is why the debate about the use of AI in education becomes so complicated. While AI can offer explanations, examples, feedback, and other kinds of help, the value of all this ultimately comes down to what the student does with it.

AI is becoming more and more a part of the learning process, allowing students to ask questions, ask for explanations, get suggestions, and interact with information in a way that seems more immediate than traditional methods of studying. A study carried out in the Philippines in 2025, which included 676 junior and senior high school students, found that AI tools had a great effect on student learning. The researchers linked the use of these tools to various areas such as engagement, interaction, satisfaction, and academic performance, and the students also showed a strong intention to carry on using them (Mabborang et al., 2025).

The fact is encouraging, but it is also necessary to realise what it actually informs us. The fact that a positive effect has been reported does not mean that AI itself caused the students to learn more or to remember more. It is possible for students to find a tool useful and interesting without every time using that tool resulting in a deeper understanding. This point is important when considering whether AI actually helps students to learn.

What the Research Is Starting to Show

Research into the relationship between AI and learning is still in its early stages and the results do not all point in the same direction. A study carried out in the Philippines in 2025 shows that students have reported positive effects from using AI tools, especially in terms of engagement, interaction, satisfaction, and their ability to handle academic questions (Mabborang et al., 2025).

A similar but more complex account is given by research conducted outside the Philippines. In their 2025 study of 85 university students at the National University of Science and Technology, POLITEHNICA Bucharest, Vieriu and Petrea found that a number of the participants held a positive view of AI with regard to learning and collaboration. The students said that AI offered extra resources, personalized material, and quicker access to information. At the same time, however, some of the participants expressed concerns about becoming dependent on AI, missing out on opportunities for independent thinking, and experiencing less human interaction (Vieriu & Petrea, 2025).

There is also some research which leads us to hesitate in assuming that the use of AI will necessarily lead to improved academic results. A study carried out in 2025 on 323 BSED Mathematics students at Davao de Oro State College revealed a weak and statistically non-significant link between the use of AI and achievement in mathematics. The researchers also discovered that the use of AI did not significantly mediate the relationship between students’ study attitudes and their performance in mathematics. Their conclusion was that AI seemed to act mainly as supplementary support, while students’ study attitudes and habits continued to be important (Roquero et al., 2025).

When put together, these studies show that the answer is not as simple as stating that AI helps students to learn. It is possible for students to find AI useful, engaging, and supportive, even if their academic performance still relies on other factors. The way in which a student uses AI is therefore just as important as whether or not the student uses it.

When AI Can Support Learning

One of the most useful features of AI is that it can meet a student’s immediate needs. For instance, if a concept is hard to understand the student can ask for a different explanation. When an example is too complex they can ask for a simpler one. And if they are revising for an exam they can ask for practice questions and then use the answers to check what they already know.

Learning can become more accessible in this way, since rather than just receiving information students are able to ask further questions and look at the subject matter from various angles. Vieriu and Petrea’s research also found that students regarded AI as useful for offering personalized content, additional resources, and quicker access to academic information (Vieriu & Petrea, 2025).

The research carried out in the Philippines also suggests that engagement could be one of the possible benefits; the students involved in the study by Mabborang and his colleagues said that they experienced positive effects in terms of their participation in class, their interaction with the academic material, and their readiness to carry on using AI tools (Mabborang et al., 2025).

In my opinion this is probably the area in which AI is most suitable as a learning aid since it can give students a different explanation when the first one doesn’t work, provide them with another example if the original one is confusing, or offer them further practice when they need it; it does not have to take the place of the teacher, the textbook, or the student’s own work in order to be of use.

When Assistance Becomes Dependence

The features which make AI useful can also lead to overreliance. When an explanation is always on hand, there may be less motivation to work through a difficult concept. Since an answer can be produced instantly, there might be less encouragement to try to solve the problem on one’s own. As a result, convenience can end up taking the place of the kind of thinking that is necessary for learning.

This concern is also found in the research. In the study carried out by Vieriu and Petrea, a number of the students said that AI could have the effect of decreasing independent thinking and of making learners more passive. The researchers also listed over-reliance, lower critical thinking, worries about accuracy, and academic dishonesty as the problems connected with the use of AI (Vieriu & Petrea, 2025).

There is one more issue which cannot be ignored: an AI response can appear convincing even if it is incorrect. A student who fails to check each response might end up with a mistake rather than gaining the correct information. Because of this, it is essential to verify the information when using AI as a tool for learning, especially if the information in question is unfamiliar or significant.

That is why I believe it is important to make the difference between using AI to learn and using AI instead of learning. In the first instance, the student is still engaging in something with the information; in the second, the student might just be accepting whatever the tool gives them.

The Student Still Has to Do the Learning

What is most important in this situation is what happens after the AI has given its response. For example, if I ask the AI to explain a particular concept and then attempt to explain it myself, the exchange gives me something to work on. In the case where I ask for some practice questions and then do them without at once looking at the answers, I am still checking my own understanding. If I use the AI to obtain a number of possible ideas and then proceed to carry out my own research and development of those ideas, the tool has allowed me to begin the work rather than having it done for me.

In my view, seeing AI as a learning aid is more beneficial than considering it merely as a tool for teaching students. Since a tool is intended to help the person who uses it, I can ask AI to explain a point that I find difficult, to give me some questions for practice, or to assist me in organising my thoughts before I start writing. That said, there should still be a stage at which I stop using the tool and try to do the task on my own. This could involve working through a problem by myself, putting an idea into my own words, checking the information against another source, or preparing a final response without just copying what the AI has produced.

Although AI can make studying easier, that doesn’t mean the same as actually learning something.

This seems to be consistent with the mixed findings of the research. While the Davao de Oro study found no significant association between the use of AI and students’ achievement in mathematics, the other studies observed positive attitudes and experiences in relation to AI-supported learning (Mabborang et al., 2025; Roquero et al., 2025; Vieriu & Petrea, 2025). The difference shows that simply looking at how much AI the students use may not be enough; we should also consider the reasons for which they are using it and the extent to which they stay actively involved in the learning process.

I don’t think it’s a worthwhile question to ask whether or not students should use AI; instead, it makes more sense to examine whether the way in which AI is being used causes the student to gain a deeper understanding than they initially did. If AI enables me to understand a topic and ultimately allows me to do the work on my own, then it has fulfilled a useful function. But if I end up being so dependent on it that I can no longer carry out the work without it, then the tool may have begun to do something quite different.