The 74 summarizes five key findings from Common Sense Media’s survey of 1,017 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 in April and May:
1) Most teens use AI to support their thinking, but many see it as an answer machine.
Among the 70% of teens who use AI for schoolwork, 77% use it as a support tool for brainstorming, checking their work and getting feedback on writing, for instance. And 66% say it helps them understand schoolwork, not just finish it faster.
But 63% go straight to a chatbot for an answer rather than working their way to it themselves.
The 63% figure is worrying “because we can’t allow AI to become a substitute for students doing the learning themselves, says former U.S. Education Secretary John King, an advisory board member for Common Sense Media’s Youth AI Safety Institute.
Teachers must change their basic practices, he says. “Some of that is old-fashioned blue books and saying, ‘We’re going to do some of the writing in class,’ complementing a written assignment with an oral presentation in class so you know that students are really doing the work.
“I think this is really a moment where the entire K 12 sector has to think through: ‘How do we help students understand AI safety and appropriate use of AI tools, and how do we adapt teaching and learning assessment so that students are doing the intellectual work?’”
2) Teens recognize AI’s cognitive off-loading.
Many who rely on AI for schoolwork acknowledge that it’s changing how they think: 38% say AI leads them to develop fewer original ideas, and 39% say that when they use AI to complete assignments, they feel they’re missing out on learning.
3) It’s easy to circumvent school AI bans.
Almost half of the teens who use AI for schoolwork (44%) have had an AI tool blocked on a school device or network. Yet 59% of these students switched to a personal device with less oversight — and less support — than a school-managed device or network.
4) Teens recognize that human skills can’t be replaced.
Teens focused on “the human skills that AI can’t or shouldn’t replace,” according to Common Sense:
- 55% chose “working well with others”
- 50% chose “fact-checking and critical thinking”
- 48% chose “reading and understanding complex information”
Helping students develop these skills in response to AI will be difficult, but educators can’t bury their heads in the sand, says King, the former Education Secretary, who now leads the State University of New York
5) Missing in action: Most teachers don’t provide AI literacy instruction.
Only 30% of teens have had conversations with a teacher about how to use AI safely — and just 26% say teachers have discussed how to evaluate whether AI-generated information is accurate or trustworthy.
“The fact that 70% of kids haven’t had a conversation about AI safety is a pretty big alarm bell, because it means the kids are using this stuff, and a lot of them are flying blind,” says Alex Kotran, CEO of the AI Education Project.
Training teachers how AI works is key to addressing the crisis of students using AI to off-load cognitive effort, he says. “There is no solution that doesn’t involve a teacher just understanding how AI can be used, and through that understanding [and] adapting assignments and lessons.”
Even if a student uses AI at home, ultimately, they’re going to have demonstrate their knowledge in the classroom, Kotran says. Teachers must understand what AI is capable of to adapt assignments – such as in-class demonstrations and talks — to ensure that students understand material. “I think it is as simple as that,” he says.
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