Professors say students can't finish a 20-page article as sustained reading craters

A professor described students who could not get through 20 pages of assigned reading, a story many people see as a sign that reading stamina — and the attention needed to sustain it — is eroding in college classrooms.

The episode fueled a wider debate over whether smartphones and artificial intelligence tools are changing how students study and learn.

What happened?

The discussion gained momentum after Futurism highlighted an essay from The Chronicle of Higher Education by literature and writing instructor Tyler Jagt.

Jagt said that none of his university students finished a 20-page assigned article that he would have read "without complaint" as an undergraduate about a decade ago.

After one student told him they did not complete the reading because they "kept losing track of what the paper was about," Jagt said he sees the issue as much bigger than a single difficult assignment.

To show the problem was broader, he cited federal figures that showed 12th-grade reading scores in 2024 hit their lowest level since 1992, with about one-third of seniors falling below the "basic" benchmark.

He also pointed to a separate report that found that 70% of fourth graders did not read at a proficient level.

Jagt described the pattern in stark terms, writing: "What I am seeing in my classroom is no longer a hunch. There is a measurable, generational collapse in sustained reading and writing, and the academy is responding to it with improvisation and exhaustion rather than the structural overhaul it requires."

Why does it matter?

If students are becoming less able to stay with challenging texts, the effects would reach well beyond English courses.

The endurance needed for serious reading also helps people make sense of contracts, health information, news coverage, workplace demands, and civic responsibilities.

As that capacity weakens, even basic tasks can become tougher.

Jagt argued that AI exacerbates the problem when students use it to bypass difficult work rather than as a support.

He cited studies that show heavy chatbot use can undermine memory and critical thinking, including research linking ChatGPT-assisted essay writing to lower brain activity.

He also noted findings that even the mere presence of a smartphone nearby may reduce available cognitive capacity.

AI's rise also has implications beyond the classroom, as it is closely tied to the energy grid.

While AI can help optimize clean energy systems, improve weather forecasting, and enhance efficiency, the data centers that power these tools can consume enormous amounts of electricity and water. That can strain infrastructure; raise costs; and introduce risks of misuse, security issues, and unintended consequences.

What are people saying?

Jagt described students' attention struggles in almost physical terms, writing, "So when a student tells me they 'kept losing track' of a 20-page article, I have to acknowledge that they may be describing a measurable neurological condition."

He also criticized colleges for leaving professors to absorb the fallout, calling it "a private burden carried by composition instructors and adjuncts."

And he warned that outsourcing difficult thinking to AI comes at a cost. "Offloading the struggle to a chatbot does not 'free students up for higher-order work,'" Jagt said in the Chronicle. "It deprives them of building the strength to do any substantial cognitive work at all."

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.