A new wave of anxiety about kids and technology is emerging, with parents and experts increasingly questioning how children are using smartphones, social media and screens. This hasn’t stopped teens from embracing generative artificial intelligence. New research reveals which artificial intelligence tools teenagers in the United States use and how often, as well as how little their parents know about them.
Seven in ten teenagers in the United States have used generative AI tools, according to A report Published today by Common Sense Media. The nonprofit analyzed survey responses from U.S. high school students and parents between March and May 2024 to assess the scale and contours of AI adoption among teens. More than half of students surveyed had used AI text generators and chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, as well as search engines with AI-generated results. About 34 percent had used image generators like DALL-E, and 22 percent had used video generators.
The survey indicates that American teenagers are adopting AI at the same rate as their peers in the UK, where the Office of Communications found Last year, four in five teenagers were using generative AI tools. It also shows that the pace of adoption is accelerating; A previous report In a survey on teens and AI published by Common Sense Media in June, based on responses from late 2023, only about half of respondents had used generative AI.
The most common reason for using AI was school-related; more than half said they used it to “help with homework,” mostly to “brainstorm” (older teens were more likely to do so than younger ones). The second most common reason was boredom, followed by translating content from one language to another. One in five teens had used generative AI tools to prank friends.
The survey results underscore how difficult and confusing this moment has been for educational institutions. Six in ten teens reported that their school had no rules about AI or that they didn’t know what those rules were. There’s no clear emerging standard for whether teachers should accept or reject AI use; nearly as many teens reported using AI without their teacher’s permission as the number who reported using it with their educator’s blessing. More than 80 percent of parents said their child’s school had “not communicated” anything about generative AI. Only 4 percent reported that schools were banning generative AI. “We’re seeing almost a paralysis in schools,” says Common Sense research director Amanda Lenhart.
When teachers talked to their students about using AI, it tended to influence how the kids viewed the technology. “Teens really listen and learn,” Lenhart says, noting that students who received instruction from their educators were more likely to understand how the technology worked and to check whether it was hallucinating or generating truthful sentences. “That makes a huge difference.”
One notable finding from the survey was the lack of awareness many parents have about whether their children are using generative AI. Only 37 percent of parents with children using AI tools knew they were doing so. Nearly a quarter of parents with children using AI tools had wrongly assumed they were not. Most parents had not discussed AI with their children.