Adult learners recall and recognition performance and affective feedback when learning from an AI-generated synthetic video

TL;DR

This study examined how adult learners perform and feel when learning from AI-generated synthetic videos versus traditional media, finding no significant differences in recall or recognition but a preference for video formats.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on the learning outcomes and affective responses to AI-generated synthetic videos compared to traditional media.

Findings

No significant difference in recall and recognition performance across conditions.

Participants preferred learning from videos over text.

Affective feedback was similar between AI-generated and human videos.

Abstract

The widespread use of generative AI has led to multiple applications of AI-generated text and media to potentially enhance learning outcomes. However, there are a limited number of well-designed experimental studies investigating the impact of learning gains and affective feedback from AI-generated media compared to traditional media (e.g., text from documents and human recordings of video). The current study recruited 500 participants to investigate adult learners recall and recognition performances as well as their affective feedback on the AI-generated synthetic video, using a mixed-methods approach with a pre-and post-test design. Specifically, four learning conditions, AI-generated framing of human instructor-generated text, AI-generated synthetic videos with human instructor-generated text, human instructor-generated videos, and human instructor-generated text frame (baseline), were considered. The results indicated no statistically significant difference amongst conditions on recall and recognition performance. In addition, the participants affective feedback was not statistically significantly different between the two video conditions. However, adult learners preferred to learn from the video formats rather than text materials.