The OECD has warned that the uncritical adoption of generative AI as a tool in education could inadvertently undermine the development of key human skills such as critical thinking and evaluative judgment in students.
In a report that examines international research on both the impact and the potential of generative AI in education, the OECD concluded that while when used correctly, AI can be of benefit to both students and teachers, if used as a shortcut rather than a learning tool, AI can displace cognitive effort and weaken the skills that underpin deep learning.
The report said an overreliance on AI among teachers risks eroding their professional skills and harming their relationship with students.
"Overreliance risks turning students into passive consumers and teachers into supervisors," it warned.
The OECD Digital Education Outlook 2026, calls for a shift away from use of off-the-shelf chatbots such as ChatGPT in favour of purpose-built educational gen AI systems, designed in conjunction with teachers.
This is so that AI can be used to support student exploration and reflection.
Student use of AI chatbots to simply find direct solutions or answers hampers learning and understanding and can undermine creativity by reducing original thought, it found.
The 245-page report, which focuses exclusively on AI, found that use of the new technology is now "mainstream" among older school students and at third level.
"However, their primary motivations often centre on convenience and efficiency rather than deeper learning," it stated.
It warned against what it calls the "mirage of false mastery," where the impressive outputs generated by AI mask the underdevelopment of essential skills.
However it said the negatives do not mean that positive outcomes from the use of GenAI tools are impossible, urging a focus on how the technology can be used to foster deep, meaningful and durable learning.
"This means reorienting our focus from GenAI-driven products to human-centred processes, ensuring that GenAI tools are designed to scaffold rather than supplant human thinking," it stated.
The past three years have seen intense debate both in Ireland and across the globe as to the implications of the new technology for education. As a new senior cycle curriculum is phased in Ireland, which places more emphasis on continuous assessment via coursework carried out during the school year, concern has been expressed by teachers at the negative impact the technology could have on student assessment.
This OECD report found that as students increasingly use GenAI tools for learning, "traditional assessment models that focus solely on final outputs are becoming inadequate".
"To address this challenge, there is a pressing need to reorient assessment practices towards process-oriented approaches that evaluate not just what students produce, but how they engage with learning to create products", it stated.
"The challenge for policymakers is to ensure that GenAI is a learning partner and not a learning shortcut," it concluded.
