Student use of artificial intelligence (AI) for homework increased in 2025 according to a new RAND report. At the same time, more students are expressing concern that the technology may be harming their ability to think critically.
Released March 17, the report shows that the percentage of middle school, high school and college students using AI for homework rose from 48 percent in May 2025 to 62 percent in December, with the increase largely driven by middle and high school students.
Simultaneously, the percentage of students said using AI for schoolwork harmed critical thinking increased from 54 percent to 67 percent. Among students who do not use AI, 78 percent said its use harmed critical thinking, compared to 60 percent of AI-users who reported feeling the same.
“Students are clearly embracing AI as a learning tool, but they’re also conflicted about what it means for their own learning,” said Heather Schwartz, vice president of RAND’s Education, Employment and Infrastructure division. “They’re using AI to look up answers, get explanations, brainstorm and revise writing, but at the same time, more of them now believe it’s eroding students’ critical-thinking skills. These findings suggest schools need to be explicit about when and how AI can be used. Students are already using these tools. The question is whether schools can help them use AI in ways that deepen, rather than erode, their critical thinking.”
In addition to relying on AI for homework, 71 percent of students reported using at least one type of AI tool for school-related activities including chatbots (60 percent) — ChatGPT being the most widely used (53 percent) — writing helpers such as Grammarly or Quill (21 percent) and general homework help platforms like Chegg, Brainly or Course Hero (15 percent).
Students reported most often using AI to get better explanations of assignments (38 percent), brainstorm ideas (35 percent), look up facts (33 percent) and draft or revise writing (33 percent). Older students surveyed were more likely than younger students to use AI for these purposes, with the exception of fact-checking, according to the report.
While 45 percent of students agreed that getting direct answers to homework was considered cheating, most students did not consider many other common uses of AI to be cheating, including using AI to understand an assignment (80 percent said this was not a form of cheating), brainstorming ideas (72 percent) or looking up facts (67 percent).
Male and female students were equally likely to use AI, but female students expressed greater concern about its effects. For instance, 75 percent of female students said AI harmed critical-thinking skills, compared with 59 percent of male students, and they were more likely to worry about cheating, according to the survey.
Finally, only about 30 percent of students surveyed said their school had a schoolwide policy about AI use.
