AIF Insights No. 22 (2026) | Learning with AI in Cambodia: A Phenomenological Perspective on Exam-Oriented Classrooms

This article examines the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within Cambodia’s high-stakes, exam-oriented academic system through a phenomenological perspective. The authors argue that while AI tools—such as the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport’s Capacity Development Platform (CDP)—expand access, flexibility, and personalized support, they simultaneously reconfigure student intentionality and create a “Paradox of Agency”. This paradox highlights a tension between academic enhancement and detrimental cognitive offloading, where students risk sacrificing independent reasoning and deep critical thinking for algorithmic efficiency and immediate outputs. Under constant evaluative pressure, learning is transformed from an open-ended exploration into a defensive act of uncertainty reduction aimed primarily at reproducing correct exam answers. Ultimately, the paper suggests that AI adds a complex non-human mediator to the traditional teacher-student dynamic, and calls for a systemic shift in educational policy toward inquiry-based, process-oriented assessments and active teacher mediation to preserve students’ independent cognitive agency.