AI Risks Reducing Peer Exchange and Eroding Collaboration, New DEC and Pearson Report Finds

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• Students who prepare with the same AI tools are arriving at group work with similar ideas
• Some student groups now ask AI to settle disputes instead of reasoning their way to a decision
• Students welcome AI that organises and explains, but resist AI that leads the group’s thinking

SINGAPORE, 27 October 2026 — A new report finds that students increasingly consult AI rather than their peers, engaging in fewer peer exchanges and weakening the mutual interaction that collaborative learning depends on.

The Digital Education Council (DEC) and Pearson have released Designing AI for Collaborative Learning, a report examining how AI can support meaningful collaborative learning in higher education. 

With 87% of job postings explicitly requesting human-centric skills such as communication and teamwork, (DEC Jobs of the Future 2025), the findings point to a growing challenge for institutions: ensuring that group work continues to develop the capabilities it is designed to build.

Groups think alike before they meet

Students who prepare with the same AI tools often arrive with similar ideas, leaving less genuine disagreement for the group to resolve.

AI is becoming the group’s referee

Many students now ask AI to settle disputes. They reach a decision without reasoning their way to it, losing productive friction that drives learning.

Students want institutional guidance on AI in collaboration

Students called for greater guidance on AI in group work, asking that independent thinking be protected and that decisions remain with the group. Some groups set their own rules on how AI can be used, but students doubted their peers would follow them unless assessment required it. The report finds that institutions need clear policies on AI’s role in group work, reinforced through assessment expectations.

Designing AI across every stage of collaborative learning

The report maps 15 emerging methodologies for using AI in collaborative learning, organised by the stages of collaborative learning and the role AI plays at each stage. Each is examined through its relationship to seven learning mechanisms, showing how AI can strengthen or undermine the interactions that produce learning.

“Students are already bringing AI into their group work. Whether it strengthens collaboration depends on how that use is designed, and this research with Pearson shows institutions where those design choices matter most,” said Alessandro Di Lullo, CEO of the Digital Education Council.

“Collaboration is one of the most valuable capabilities higher education develops and the value of collaboration in society is only growing. The students in this research were clear that they want AI to support their collaboration, and this report gives institutions something concrete to design around,” said Danny Bielik, President of the Digital Education Council.

Designing AI for Collaborative Learning is available for download here.