Signals from Our Futures Past

Signals from Our Futures Past

The cost of always having the answer

The erosion of persistence

Mike Amundsen's avatar
Mike Amundsen
May 11, 2026
∙ Paid

A recent paper makes a simple but unsettling claim: AI assistance improves performance in the moment but reduces persistence and weakens independent thinking almost immediately.

In controlled studies across math and reading tasks, participants who used AI performed better while it was available. But once it was removed, they did worse. And they were more…

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