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Course design in the age of AI

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  • Benjamin Davies

Abstract

I develop a model of learning-by-doing and course design, and use it to study the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI). A myopic student faces a sequence of tasks that he can work on or delegate to AI. Work requires costly effort but builds skill; delegation requires no effort but builds no skill. A teacher designs the task sequence ("course") to maximize the student's skill development, given his choices to work or delegate. Without AI, the teacher makes earlier tasks more effort-intensive and later tasks more skill-intensive. With AI, the teacher must redesign early tasks to induce effort, leading to less skill development. If AI complements effort, then improvements in AI quality make high-skill students learn faster but low-skill students learn slower.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Davies, 2026. "Course design in the age of AI," Papers 2607.18735, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2026.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2607.18735
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    References listed on IDEAS

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