A modern wave of concern about kids and technology is growing, with parents and experts increasingly questioning how kids exploit smartphones, social media, and screens. That hasn’t stopped teens from embracing generative AI. New research reveals which AI tools teenagers in the United States are using and how often, as well as how little their parents know about them.
According to 2016 data, seven out of ten teenagers in the United States have used generative AI tools report published today by Common Sense Media. The nonprofit analyzed survey responses from U.S. parents and high school students from March and May 2024 to assess the scale and contours of AI adoption among teens. More than half of the students surveyed used AI text generators and chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, as well as search engines with AI-generated results. About 34 percent used image generators, such as DALL-E, and 22 percent used video generators.
Teenagers in the US are adopting AI at a rate similar to their peers in the UK, the study found, according to the Office of Communications. found By the end of last year, four out of five teenagers were using generative AI tools. This also shows that the pace of adoption is accelerating; in earlier report on teens and artificial intelligence, published in June of this year by Common Sense Media, based on responses from slow 2023, only about half of respondents had used generative AI.
The most common reason for using AI was school; more than half reported using it for “homework help,” mostly for “brainstorming.” (Older teens were more likely to do this than younger ones.) The second most common reason was good old-fashioned boredom, followed by translating content from one language to another. One in five teens used generative AI tools to joke around with friends.
The survey results underscore how challenging and confusing this moment is for educational institutions. Six in 10 teens reported that their school either has no AI policy or doesn’t know what it is. There’s no clear, emerging standard for whether teachers should accept or reject AI exploit; nearly as many teens reported using AI without teacher permission as those who reported using it with teacher permission. More than 80 percent of parents said their child’s school had “not shared” any information about generative AI. Only 4 percent reported that schools had banned generative AI. “We’re seeing almost a paralysis in schools,” says Amanda Lenhart, Common Sense’s head of research.
When teachers talked to their students about using AI, it tended to shape how the kids viewed the technology. “Teens really listen and learn,” Lenhart says, noting that students who were given instruction by educators were more likely to understand how the technology worked and more likely to check whether it was hallucinating or generating factual statements. “That makes a big difference.”
One of the survey’s significant findings was how unaware parents are of whether their children are using generative AI. Only 37 percent of parents of children using AI tools knew they were doing so. Almost a quarter of parents of children using AI tools wrongly assumed they weren’t. Most parents haven’t talked about AI with their children.