# AI Tool Usage 'Correlates Negatively' With Performance in CS Class, Estonian Study Finds
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 14:22:02 2025-09-08
How do AI tools impact college students? 231 students in an object-oriented programming class participated in a study at Estonia's University of Tartu (conducted by an associate professor of informatics and a recently graduated master's student).
They were asked how frequently they used AI tools and for what purposes. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and Spearman's rank correlation analysis was performed to examine the strength of the relationships. The results showed that students mainly used AI assistance for solving programming tasks — for example, debugging code and understanding examples. A surprising finding, however, was that more frequent use of chatbots correlated with lower academic results. One possible explanation is that struggling students were more likely to turn to AI. Nevertheless, the finding suggests that unguided use of AI and over-reliance on it may in fact hinder learning.
The researchers say their report provides "quantitative evidence that frequent AI use does not necessarily translate into better academic outcomes in programming courses."
Other results from the survey:
47 respondents (20.3%) never used AI assistants in this course.
Only 3.9% of the students reported using AI assistants weekly, "suggesting that reliance on such tools is still relatively low."
"Few students feared plagiarism, suggesting students don't link AI use to it — raising academic concerns."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/07/0533233/ai-tool-usage-correlates-negatively-with-performance-in-cs-class-estonian-study-finds?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 14:22:02 2025-09-08
How do AI tools impact college students? 231 students in an object-oriented programming class participated in a study at Estonia's University of Tartu (conducted by an associate professor of informatics and a recently graduated master's student).
They were asked how frequently they used AI tools and for what purposes. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and Spearman's rank correlation analysis was performed to examine the strength of the relationships. The results showed that students mainly used AI assistance for solving programming tasks — for example, debugging code and understanding examples. A surprising finding, however, was that more frequent use of chatbots correlated with lower academic results. One possible explanation is that struggling students were more likely to turn to AI. Nevertheless, the finding suggests that unguided use of AI and over-reliance on it may in fact hinder learning.
The researchers say their report provides "quantitative evidence that frequent AI use does not necessarily translate into better academic outcomes in programming courses."
Other results from the survey:
47 respondents (20.3%) never used AI assistants in this course.
Only 3.9% of the students reported using AI assistants weekly, "suggesting that reliance on such tools is still relatively low."
"Few students feared plagiarism, suggesting students don't link AI use to it — raising academic concerns."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/07/0533233/ai-tool-usage-correlates-negatively-with-performance-in-cs-class-estonian-study-finds?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.