Steroids for the Mind? The AI Rat Race in Education

Steroids for the Mind? The AI Rat Race in Education | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Social Sciences - Article Steroids for the Mind? The AI Rat Race in Education Leonardo Bursztyn, Alex Imas, Rafael Jimenez Duran, Christopher Roth This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7245014/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Anxiety about falling behind can drive people to embrace emerging technologies with uncertain consequences. We study how social forces shape demand for AI-based learning tools early in the education pipeline. In incentivized experiments with parents—key gatekeepers for children’s AI adoption—we elicit their demand for AI tools for teenagers’ education. Parental demand rises with the share of other teenagers using the technology, with social forces increasing willingness to pay for AI by more than 60%. Providing information about potentially adverse effects of unstructured AI use negatively shifts beliefs about the merits of AI, but does not change individual demand. Instead, this information increases parents’ preference for banning AI in schools. Our evidence highlights social pressure driving individual technology adoption despite widespread support for restricting its use. Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Economics Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Education Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7245014","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Social Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":502759267,"identity":"1415a95a-7aa6-46ab-854e-70a6a5a74b26","order_by":0,"name":"Leonardo Bursztyn","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA10lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPgkYi70BSBhYENbCBtFiwMDAcwBES+BVjaZFIgHEIEaLdI/Zxx9//iRul3x+dcOPAgkG/vbuBPxaZM4Yz+bhMUjcOTun7GYP0GESZ85uIOCwHGNmBgmDxA23c9Ju8AC1GEjkEtbC+MMAqOXmmbSbf4jVwsCTANRyg/3YbeJskTlWzMxzwNh4w5kcttsyBhI8BP3CL928mfHHHznZDcePP7v55o+NHH97L34tMODYwMBjAGLwEKUcBOyBKeYB0apHwSgYBaNgZAEAEM1DCm0+aKUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Chicago","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Leonardo","middleName":"","lastName":"Bursztyn","suffix":""},{"id":502759268,"identity":"ddbb7b49-9e0f-4bf6-b387-9dcb0223b1f3","order_by":1,"name":"Alex Imas","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Chicago","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alex","middleName":"","lastName":"Imas","suffix":""},{"id":502759269,"identity":"78ea3d2c-7a21-44ff-8407-72dff31a1d61","order_by":2,"name":"Rafael Jimenez Duran","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bocconi University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rafael","middleName":"Jimenez","lastName":"Duran","suffix":""},{"id":502759270,"identity":"03134387-8aca-457d-97ec-b98cacdcc7b8","order_by":3,"name":"Christopher Roth","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Cologne","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christopher","middleName":"","lastName":"Roth","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-29 15:43:10","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7245014/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7245014/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":93254592,"identity":"490947cc-256f-4be6-a38a-2a9bd34b264a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-10 16:30:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":495103,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"aimanuscriptnature.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7245014/v1_covered_1bf5b0d6-d7aa-4e88-b802-8276331cf8cd.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Steroids for the Mind? 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