Who could’ve guessed that when you give millions of kids free access to a homework-writing chatbot, they’d stop writing their own essays?
According to new research from the Pew Research Center, the number of kids automating school assignments is now staggering. At this point, 57 percent of kids are using chatbots to search for information, while 54 percent say they use AI for “help with homework” — a euphemism that could mean they’re using it as a tutor that enriches learning, but in many cases probably amounts to the kind of cheating that does nothing to prepare them for higher education or the job market.
And who could blame them? They’re being barraged by the message that AI is poised to take over virtually all jobs, and especially any that required intellectual labor that school is attempting to prepare them for — a drumbeat that has bleak psychological effects on adults, and likely similar ones on kids.
The survey, which looked at teens aged 13 through 17, found that 10 percent of all respondents reporting using AI for “all or most of their homework.” A further 44 percent reporting using “a little” or “some” AI for coursework, while the students who don’t use chatbots for homework now make up the minority, at 45 percent.
Asked how they’re using chatbots, four out of every ten teens who used AI for school said they used them to do research or find the answer to math problems. About a quarter said they were “extremely” or “very helpful” for completing schoolwork, while another 25 percent say they’re “somewhat helpful,” according to Pew.
The findings reveal the staggering grip AI has on student populations in the US, particularly as the federal share of K-12 education funding continues on a 50-year decline.
A particularly grim finding: minority and low-income students have become the most likely to turn to AI solutions. Per the Pew study, 20 percent of kids in a household making less than $30,000 a year reported doing “all or most” of their homework with AI’s help. Compare that to the 7 percent of kids whose households bring in over $75,000, and the contrast is stark.
Black and Hispanic teens are also 12 percent more likely than their white counterparts to do all or most of their schoolwork with AI chatbots, the survey found.
It’s a sad state of affairs given the undeniable cognitive and social effects of AI dependence in young students. With AI companies worming their way into teachers’ unions and classrooms at an alarming rate, there’s no telling how — or if — educators will be able to navigate the new normal.
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