Teens are turning to AI for information and answers, two surveys show

Two new surveys, both released this month, show how high school and college students are adopting artificial intelligence. There are some inconsistencies and many unanswered questions, but what stands out is how much teens are turning to AI for information and asking questions, not just to do their homework for them. And they use it for personal reasons as well as for school. Another important takeaway is that there are different patterns by race and ethnicity, with Black, Hispanic, and Asian American students often adopting AI more quickly than white students.

The first report, released June 3, was produced by three nonprofits, Hopelab, Common Sense Media and the Center for Digital Thriving at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. These organizations surveyed 1,274 adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 22 in the United States between October and November 2023. At that time, only half of adolescents and young adults reported having ever used AI, with just 4% using it daily or almost every day. .

Emily Weinstein, executive director of the Center for Digital Thriving, a research center that studies how young people interact with technology, said more teens are “definitely” using AI now that these tools are mainstreamed. in more apps and websites, such as Google Search. . Last October and November, when this survey was conducted, teens typically had to take the initiative to navigate to an AI site and create an account. One exception was Snapchat, a social media app that had already added an AI chatbot for its users.

More than half of early adopters said they used AI for information and brainstorming, the first and second most popular uses. This survey did not ask teens if they used AI to cheat, such as tricking ChatGPT into writing their articles for them. However, among the half of respondents who were already using AI, less than half – 46% – said they used it to help with their school work. The fourth most common use was image generation.

The survey also asked teens a few open-ended questions. Some teens told researchers they asked the AI ​​private questions that they were too embarrassed to ask their parents or friends. “Teenagers tell us I have easier questions to ask robots than humans,” Weinstein said.

Weinstein wants to learn more about the quality and accuracy of AI responses to teens, especially those with mental health issues, and how privacy is protected when students share personal information with chatbots.

The second report, released June 11, was produced by Impact Research and commissioned by the Walton Family Foundation. In May 2024, Impact Research surveyed 1,003 teachers, 1,001 students aged 12-18, 1,003 college students, and 1,000 parents about their use of and views on AI.

This survey, carried out six months after the Hopelab-Common Sense survey, demonstrated the speed with which uses are developing. The study found that 49 percent of students ages 12 to 18 reported using ChatGPT at least once a week for school, an increase of 26 percentage points since 2023. Forty-nine percent of students in undergraduates also said they used ChatGPT every week for school, but there was no comparison data from 2023.

Among 12- to 18-year-olds and students who used AI chatbots in school, 56% said they used it to help them write essays and other writing assignments. Undergraduates were twice as likely as 12- to 18-year-olds to say that using AI amounted to cheating, 22% versus 8%. Investigations conducted earlier in 2023 into student cheating by Stanford University academics did not detect an increase in cheating with ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. But as students use AI more, their understanding of what constitutes cheating could also evolve.

More than 60% of students who used AI said they used it to study and take tests and quizzes. Half of the students who used AI said they used it to expand their knowledge, perhaps as if it were an online encyclopedia. There was no indication in this survey whether students verified the accuracy of the information.

Both surveys noted differences by race and ethnicity. The first Hopelab-Common Sense survey found that 7% of Black students, ages 14 to 22, used AI daily, compared to 5% of Hispanic students and 3% of white students. In the open-ended questions, a Black teenage girl wrote that, through AI, “we can change who we are and become someone else we want to become.”

The Walton Foundation survey found that Hispanic and Asian American students were sometimes more likely to use AI than white and black students, including for personal use.

These are all early snapshots that will likely continue to evolve. OpenAI is expected to be part of the Apple universe in the fall, including its iPhones, computers and iPads. “Those numbers are going to go up and they're going to go up very quickly,” Weinstein said. “Imagine if we could go back 15 years, to when social media use was just beginning among teenagers. This looks like an opportunity for adults to pay attention.

This story about ChatGPT in education was written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, an independent, nonprofit news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Register for Proof points and other Hechinger Newsletters.

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