An extra year of education can make you smarter
London, June 24: An extra year of schooling may leave students with new knowledge and may lead to a small but noticeable increase to students' IQ, a new study suggests.
The researchers found that an additional year of education was associated with an increase in IQ that ranged from 1.197 IQ points to 5.229 IQ points.
In combination, the studies indicated that an additional year of education correlated with an average increase of 3.394 IQ points.
"Our analyses provide the strongest evidence yet that education raises intelligence test scores," said co-author Stuart Ritchie from the University of Edinburgh.
"We looked at 42 data sets using several different research designs and found that, overall, adding an extra year of schooling in this way improved people's IQ scores by between one and five points," Ritchie added.
Research has long shown that years of education and intelligence are correlated but it has been unclear whether this is because education boosts intelligence or because individuals who start off with higher IQ scores are likely to stay in school for longer, the researchers said.
For the study, published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers looked at three particular types of quasi-experimental studies from a variety of sources, including published articles, books, preprint articles, working papers, dissertations, and theses.
To be included in the meta-analysis, each data set had to provide cognitive scores obtained from objective measurement with participants who were six or older and cognitively healthy.
This yielded 42 data sets from 28 studies collected from a total of 615,812 individuals, the researchers said.
"The most surprising thing was how long-lasting the effects seemed to be, appearing even for people who completed intelligence tests in their 70s and 80s. Something about that educational boost seemed to be beneficial right across the lifespan," Ritchie said.
The researchers also noted that each type of study has strengths and weaknesses, and the findings raise several new questions that future research will have to address.
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OpenAI reportedly developing social media platform to rival Elon Musk’s X
San Francisco: In a development that could reshape the AI-driven social media landscape, OpenAI is reportedly in the early stages of creating its own social media platform, one that closely resembles Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter).
According to sources cited by The Verge, the new platform features an experimental feed built around ChatGPT’s image generation capabilities. The project is still in its infancy, and it is unclear whether it will debut as a standalone app or as an extension of the ChatGPT interface.
While OpenAI has not yet issued an official statement, CEO Sam Altman is said to be personally involved in reviewing and discussing the platform’s potential. This move, if confirmed, could escalate existing tensions between Altman and Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI who left the company in 2018.
Relations between the two tech leaders have become increasingly hostile. In February, Musk attempted a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover of OpenAI, an offer that was firmly rejected. He later filed a lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI, accusing them of betraying the company’s original non-profit mission. In response, OpenAI filed a counter-suit accusing Musk of harassment and attempting to derail its evolution into a for-profit enterprise. The legal confrontation is expected to go before a jury in 2026.
Observers say OpenAI’s possible entry into the social media space could create a new front in the ongoing rivalry, not only with Musk, but also with Meta. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is also reportedly working on AI-powered social platforms. Altman previously hinted at OpenAI’s interest in the domain, responding to Meta’s plans with a post on X: “ok fine maybe we'll do a social app.”
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