When AI Writes and Grades the Essay What’s Left to Learn?

AI is writing student essays… and now AI is grading them too.
What happens to learning when both sides of the process become automated? The result? A cycle I call “the essay infinity loop.”

Drawing on research from learning science, cognitive psychology, and assessment theory, I examine how AI can subtly erode the processes that make learning meaningful. Scholars like Bjork, Dunlosky, Black & Wiliam, and Selwyn warn that efficiency is not mastery—and that eliminating friction can eliminate learning itself.

If you’re a teacher, student, or parent trying to understand the future of learning in the age of AI, this video will give you a clear lens into what’s at stake—and what we can do differently.

⏱ Chapters

00:00 — Intro
01:00 — What the “essay infinity loop” looks like
01:39 — AI case study
03:33 — AI is learning
04:18 — What education research says
05:05 — What education can look like with AI


🎓 About Dr. Yu-Ling Lee

I’m an education professor and YouTuber exploring how teaching, learning, and creativity are changing in the age of AI. New videos weekly on learning science, assessment, and digital pedagogy.

👉 Subscribe for more: @yulingleephd

🔗 References

Bjork, R. A. (1994). Memory and metamemory considerations in the training of human beings. Metacognition: Knowing About Knowing, 185–205.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139–148.
Dunlosky, J., et al. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58.
Selwyn, N. (2023). Education and the digital future. Polity Press.
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring. American Psychologist, 34(10), 906–911.
Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. PublicAffairs.

#AIinEducation
#FutureOfLearning
#ArtificialIntelligence
#EducationTechnology
#EdTech
#TeachingInTheAIera
#LearningScience
#AcademicIntegrity
#AIandTeaching
#ChatGPTinEducation
#AssessmentDesign
#DigitalPedagogy
#TeacherLife
#HigherEducation
#K12Education