Experimental Learning Impact of Generative AI

Contractor & Reyes (arXiv 2607.08849): a randomized, proctored experiment with 211 undergraduates finds off-the-shelf AI access raises immediate test scores +0.27 SD, ~76% of which persists a week later on unaided tests, and lifts essay quality only after AI is removed — but the durable gains belong almost entirely to 'augmentation' users (AI as tutor/explainer) while 'automation' users' (AI-drafts-the-text) short-run gains vanish once AI is gone; the objective, measured-skill counterpart to the AEI self-report that learning both persists and can be hollow depending on use mode