New research finds AI is a schoolwork assistant for most teens

By Laura Zimmermann, PhD

Director, Youth AI Research

AI has become a routine part of how teens approach schoolwork, used nearly as often to get answers as it is to brainstorm or check work. 

I led the Youth AI Safety Institute's new nationally representative survey of 1,017 U.S. teenagers, which found that 7 in 10 teens are using AI tools for schoolwork. Among those who use AI, 63% use it to get an answer to their schoolwork. And when the work of arriving at an answer is outsourced before students engage independently, it undermines their learning process.

But teens' use of AI is more nuanced than that, as 77% use AI for schoolwork help without getting direct answers, including brainstorming or checking their work.

Only 27% of teens have discussed with their teachers what AI is and how it works. Using AI without understanding its risks can undermine the very skills that teens think will matter most in their adult life—including working well with other people and critical thinking. With most teens now using AI for schoolwork, it is essential that we equip students with AI literacy skills, and educators with the tools to support them.

Read our story about the survey and why it matters, and download the whole report here.