Most US Teens Use Generative AI. Most of Their Parents Don't Know

A caller question of anxiousness astir children and technology is cresting, with parents and pundits progressively interrogating however kids usage smartphones, societal media, and screens. It hasn’t stopped teenagers from embracing generative AI. New research reveals what AI tools teenagers successful the United States are using, and however often—as good arsenic however small their parents cognize astir it.

Seven successful 10 teenagers successful the United States person utilized generative AI tools, according to a report published contiguous by Common Sense Media. The nonprofit analyzed survey answers from US parents and precocious schoolers betwixt March and May 2024 to measure the standard and contours of AI adoption among teenagers. More than fractional of the students surveyed had utilized AI substance generators and chatbots similar ChatGPT and Gemini, arsenic good arsenic hunt engines with AI-generated results. Around 34 percent had utilized representation generators similar DALL-E, and 22 percent had utilized video generators.

The survey indicates that US teenagers are embracing AI astatine gait with peers successful the UK, wherever the Office of Communications found precocious past twelvemonth that 4 successful 5 teenagers utilized generative AI tools. It besides shows that the gait of adoption is accelerating; successful an earlier report connected teenagers and AI released by Common Sense Media this June, based connected responses from the extremity of 2023, lone astir fractional the respondents had utilized generative AI.

The astir communal crushed for utilizing AI was school-related; much than fractional reported utilizing it for “homework help,” chiefly successful “brainstorming ideas.” (Older teens were much apt to bash truthful than younger ones.) The 2nd most-common crushed was good, old-fashioned boredom, followed by translating contented from 1 connection to another. One successful 5 teens had utilized generative AI tools to gag astir with friends.

The survey results underscore however challenging and confusing acquisition institutions person recovered this moment. Six successful 10 teens reported that their schoolhouse either didn’t person AI rules, oregon they didn’t cognize what those rules were. There’s nary wide emerging modular for whether teachers should clasp oregon cull AI use; astir the aforesaid fig of teenagers reported utilizing AI without their teacher’s support arsenic the fig reporting that they utilized it with their educator’s blessing. More than 80 percent of parents said that their child’s schoolhouse “had not communicated” thing astir generative AI. Only 4 percent reported schools banning generative AI. “We’re seeing an astir paralysis from schools,” says Common Sense caput of probe Amanda Lenhart.

When teachers did person conversations with their students astir AI use, it tended to signifier however the kids viewed the technology. “Teenagers truly perceive and learn,” Lenhart says, noting that the students who were fixed instructions by their educators were much apt to grasp however the exertion worked, and much apt to cheque whether it was hallucinating oregon generating factually close sentences. “It makes a large difference.”

One notable uncovering from the survey was however clueless galore parents are astir whether their kids are utilizing generative AI. Only 37 percent of parents with kids utilizing AI tools were alert that they were doing so. Nearly a 4th of the parents with kids utilizing AI tools had erroneously assumed that they weren’t. Most parents had not discussed AI with their kids.