AI tutor access alone doesn’t equate to student gains, study says

“Dive Brief: As multiple states prepare or have already implemented artificial intelligence tutoring pilot programs, a new Stanford University study found that merely offering AI tutoring tools to students is not enough to create meaningful engagement and improve reading outcomes. Among two student groups studied, only about 61% in one school district and 53% in another used the AI tutor even when there was scheduled time to use the tool, according to the research released Wednesday. Overall, students’ average weekly usage amounted to 2.18 minutes and 5.23 minutes for each district, respectively. When students used the AI tutoring platform alongside a human tutor, student engagement slightly increased by one minute per week in one district and by 4.4 minutes per week in the other. Still, the researchers said that difference does little to fulfill the 30 minutes of weekly use recommended by the platform provider for measurable reading gains. Dive Insight: These findings are important for schools and policymakers to consider as they decide whether to adopt AI tutoring platforms, the Stanford researchers said. While AI tutors have the capability to personalize instruction, their benefits rely on consistent student use — whether or not they're augmented with human support. “Discussions about AI tutoring often focus on the quality of the technology itself, but these findings suggest that implementation and student engagement may be equally important determinants of impact,” the Stanford study said. The study was conducted with support from Stanford’s SCALE Initiative, which focuses on research for identifying and scaling solutions in education. The Stanford study partnered with two school districts as they used an AI literacy platform alongside human tutors. Researchers analyzed students in grades 1-5 who received AI tutoring across five after-school programs with program staff as tutors in District A. For District B, students in grades 1-3 used the AI tutoring tool during the school day with middle school students as tutors. Additionally, the study pointed to demographics in the study cohorts, saying that “students who used the AI tutor were less likely to use special education services and more likely to be higher achieving.” A handful of states — including Arizona, Iowa, Indiana and Maryland — have experimented with AI tutoring pilots in their K-12 classrooms in recent years. In October 2025, the Arizona Department of Education announced that 170,000 students — 16% of all public school students in the state — were using AI tutoring through Khanmigo, a tool from Khan Academy. The state invested $1.5 million for the initiative in 2024. The Iowa Department of Education also launched a $3 million yearlong project in 2024 for an AI-powered personalized reading tutoring program, known as Amira, for elementary students. During the 2023-24 school year, the Indiana Department of Education supported a one-year high-dosage AI tutoring program at 112 schools. The initiative was part of Indiana’s AI-Powered Platform Pilot Grant. The department reported actual usage of the AI tutoring tools to be lower than what Indiana schools requested, partly because of a quick launch and a delay in some schools completing vendor training. The Maryland Department of Education also rolled out a two-year pilot program with Khanmigo’s AI tutor in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years with 4,350 student licenses. Meanwhile, Virginia is gearing up to implement its own pilot that includes using AI for tutoring and instruction as required by a new state law enacted in April. Even as interest in AI tutoring persists, there has been little research or evidence on the efficacy of the tools. At the same time, those initiatives could slow as policy momentum is gaining to limit ed tech — including AI tools, particularly for younger students — in schools.

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