Adolescents continue to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools at higher rates than the adults in their lives, including for educational purposes, but few report using tools like ChatGPT to cheat, according to a national study conducted by the University of California, Irvine, and the education research nonprofit, foundry10.
The emergence and rapid growth of generative AI technologies has led many education leaders and advocates to express concern about the potential adverse effects of AI on the safety, learning and social-emotional development of young people. As AI becomes more prevalent in classrooms and homes, some parents and educators are eager to embrace it, while others have called out the potential for academic dishonesty and other challenges.
However, while 45 percent of the young people surveyed reported using ChatGPT or similar products in the month prior to the survey, only 7 percent indicated daily use of generative AI as part of their regular routines. Additionally, researchers noted that unlike most technological developments, there doesn’t appear to be a significant gap in use among students from higher or lower economic backgrounds.
“Digital technologies have been moving fast, but generative AI models have hit society and young users at breathtaking speed. Everyone is scrambling to understand how our children may be impacted,” report co-author Candice Odgers, a UC Irvine professor of psychological science and informatics, said in a statement.
Co-author Gillian Hayes, UC Irvine Chancellor’s Professor and Robert A. and Barbara L. Kleist Chair in informatics, added that “We were shocked to see that, at least at this time, teens from lower- versus higher-income families did not vary substantially in their adoption or uses of generative AI, which is commonly seen with the introduction of new digital or educational technologies.”
The survey included 1,510 adolescents (ages 9 to 17) and 2,826 parents of K-12 students across the United States.
Additional findings
Parents and teens differed in their reported use of and response to generative AI. Just one in four parents reported using generative AI tools like ChatGPT.
“Not surprisingly, adolescents appear to be earlier and more eager adopters of AI, with their parents and teachers varying widely in terms of their familiarity, openness and comfort with these new tools,” said Kelli Dickerson, a UC Irvine project scientist who assisted with the study.
Other findings show that:
- Seventy-two percent of adolescents reported using these tools for entertainment
- Sixty-three percent said they use ChatGPT and other AI tools for homework while 40 percent said the same for classwork
- Sixty-nine percent reported that generative AI had helped them learn something new
- Less than 6 percent of respondents said they had experienced negative social or academic impacts from their use of AI
