Artificial intelligence is changing the way students search for information, complete assignments and solve problems. But this shift is also raising questions about what happens when students begin relying on AI for tasks they would traditionally do themselves.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently addressed this issue during a conversation with New York Times journalist Ezra Klein, arguing that some basic skills may eventually become less important as AI becomes more capable.
Jensen Huang On Basic Maths And AI
During the conversation, Klein discussed research involving more than 26,000 students in China and asked Huang about the effect of AI on learning. Huang agreed that students were increasingly relying on AI and said basic mathematical skills such as long division, multiplication tables and calculating square roots were being forgotten. However, Huang questioned whether losing some of these skills would necessarily be a problem. He argued that as technology develops, people may move away from routine calculations and focus on skills that require working with larger and more complex systems.
What The China Study Found
The research Huang was responding to comes from economists David Strömberg, Victor Lei and Yanhui Wu. Their study analysed data from 26,811 students in grades 7 to 12 in a county in central China over 30 months. The researchers found that after adopting generative AI, students' homework scores increased by 18%, while the time taken to complete homework fell by 30%. However, monthly closed-book exam scores declined by around 20% within six months. The researchers also found that the negative effect on high-stakes entrance examinations developed more slowly, reaching 18% to 24% after about two years.
ALSO READ: GPT-6.1 Astra: OpenAI Scraps Release Of Next-Generation AI Model Over Safety Concerns
AI Use Matters More Than Just Using AI
The study does not suggest that every use of AI automatically damages learning. The researchers found that the learning loss was concentrated among students whose behaviour indicated that they were outsourcing much of their homework to AI. Students who continued spending roughly the same amount of time on homework as non-AI users experienced much smaller learning losses. This distinction suggests that how students use AI can be an important part of the discussion around its impact on education.
Huang Says New Skills Could Become More Important
Huang also acknowledged that people could lose some lower level skills as technology becomes more capable. His argument was that this could be accompanied by greater emphasis on higher-level thinking. He compared the change to earlier technology shifts. Computers and calculators eventually became standard tools, reducing the need to perform certain calculations manually. Huang believes AI could similarly become a basic tool that students will need to learn to use effectively.
The debate around AI and education is therefore moving beyond whether students should use these tools. The bigger question is how they should use them without replacing the learning process itself. As AI becomes more common in classrooms and at home, researchers, teachers and students will continue to examine which skills should remain fundamental and which tasks can safely be handed over to technology.
ALSO READ: Why Is Everyone At Work Pretending To Understand AI?
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
