Artificial intelligence has created a generation of underachievers

At one of the most prestigious universities in the United States — the University of California, Berkeley — a sharp rise has been recorded in the number of students unable to pass basic computer science courses. Professors attribute the situation to several factors at once: excessive use of artificial intelligence, a decline in mathematical preparedness, and a shortage of teaching staff.

Particularly alarming were the results of the spring 2026 semester. According to university statistics, the share of students receiving failing grades in CS 10 reached 35.3%. In the more advanced CS 61A course, that figure stood at 10.6%. By comparison, over the previous two years the failure rate in these subjects had not exceeded 10%. Moreover, internal faculty guidelines suggest that the share of D and F grades in such courses should be around 7%.

According to instructor Dan Garcia, one of the main reasons was the rapid rise in the use of language models such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. Some students were caught cheating with the help of AI and referred for disciplinary review. However, as professors note, the problem runs much deeper. Many students become so accustomed to getting ready-made solutions from neural networks that they are unable to complete exam tasks on their own.

«Some students rely too heavily on large language models. When exam time comes, it turns out they simply do not have the necessary knowledge,» representatives of the faculty note. In just one course, dozens of cases of academic misconduct were identified over the semester.

Another serious problem, professors say, is the decline in the mathematical preparation of incoming students. According to them, an increasing number of students struggle even with the basic mathematical concepts needed to study programming and computer science. Such cases have been recorded not only in Berkeley, but across all universities in California.

The situation has already sparked broad debate in the academic community. Some experts believe universities need to change their approaches to teaching and assessing knowledge in the age of artificial intelligence. Others are convinced that the problem lies not with the technologies themselves, but with the way students use them instead of receiving a full education.

The story of one of the world's leading universities shows that the development of artificial intelligence brings not only new opportunities, but also serious challenges for the education system. As neural networks become smarter, universities are trying to find an answer to the question of how to preserve real knowledge and skills among students in a world where a ready-made answer can be obtained in a matter of seconds.