{"id":143431,"date":"2026-08-18T09:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/143431\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T09:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:46:10","slug":"survey-5-ways-ai-is-cutting-into-students-ability-to-learn-the-74","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/143431\/","title":{"rendered":"Survey: 5 Ways AI is Cutting into Students\u2019 Ability to Learn \u2013 The 74"},"content":{"rendered":"

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n

Over the past four years, generative artificial intelligence has quietly colonized the minds of U.S. adolescents, changing the way they learn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A College Board survey<\/a> last fall found that the share of high schoolers using it for schoolwork had climbed to 84%, with about half using it to brainstorm, revise essays or research topics. A follow-up issued in December<\/a> found that high-achieving students \u2014 and those who are perhaps experiencing \u201csenioritis\u201d \u2014 are the most expansive users of AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A new survey released Tuesday<\/a> by the nonprofit Common Sense Media offers another set of key data points, looking at teens\u2019 own sense of how they use the technology \u2014\u00a0and what AI is doing to their thinking.<\/p>\n

The nationally representative sample of 1,017 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17, conducted in April and May, found that 70% now use AI for schoolwork, but that fewer than one in three say a teacher has ever talked with them about using it safely. And just one in four have discussed with a teacher how to tell whether AI-generated information is accurate.<\/p>\n

Here are five things to know about the findings:<\/p>\n

1. Most teens say they\u2019re using AI to support their thinking, but nearly as many see it as an answer machine.<\/p>\n

Among the 70% of teens who use AI, 77% say they use it as a support tool, using it 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.<\/p>\n

But 63% separately report going straight to a chatbot for an answer rather than working their way to it themselves. Of those, 25% use AI output as-is, while 31% rewrite it to sound like their own voice. Another 35% \u201cimprove it with what they know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

RelatedThe Schools Turning to AI to Rate Students Beyond A-F Grades<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

And yes, the 77% and 63% figures add up to more than 100%. That\u2019s because many teens say they are, at different times, different kinds of AI users, either looking for support and brainstorming or simply zeroing in on a quick answer, depending on the assignment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former U.S. Education Secretary John King, an advisory board member for the nonprofit\u2019s Youth AI Safety Institute<\/a>, said the 63% figure is worrying \u201cbecause we can\u2019t allow AI to become a substitute for students doing the learning themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of that will fall to teachers, he said, who must change their basic practices. \u201cSome of that is old-fashioned blue books and saying, \u2018We\u2019re going to do some of the writing in class,\u2019 complementing a written assignment with an oral presentation in class so you know that students are really doing the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that changing course design \u201cis really hard,\u201d there\u2019s really no alternative. \u201cI think this is really a moment where the entire K 12 sector has to think through: \u2018How 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?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

2. Teens know that AI takes a cognitive toll.<\/p>\n

Many of those who rely on AI for schoolwork acknowledge that it\u2019s changing how they think: 38% say having AI available leads them to develop fewer original ideas, and 39% say that when they use AI to complete assignments, they feel they\u2019re missing out on learning.<\/p>\n

Darren Lam, 18, a recent graduate of New York\u2019s Staten Island Technical High School<\/a>, said AI use was widespread among his classmates. \u201cA very large percentage of people that I know either regularly use, or have at some point used, AI to just completely do an assignment for them,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I think that the concern of AI being used as a cheating tool is definitely not invalid.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he said the bigger problem is students not coming clean about their motivation \u2014 or lack of motivation \u2014 to learn. \u201cIf students wanted to genuinely learn and were willing to be honest about their own work, then giving them free access to AI would not encourage them to cheat in the first place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

RelatedThe End of Homework? Teachers Grapple With Cheating in the Age of AI<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

As it is, for many students school simply isn\u2019t relevant, he said. \u201cThey think that many of the things that they learn in the modern education system aren\u2019t particularly beneficial once they leave the four walls, and I think because of that they want to just skip through it as fast as they can. And the fastest way is by just getting AI to do all your work and then submitting it.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. School AI bans don\u2019t really work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among teens who use AI for schoolwork, 44% say they\u2019ve had an AI tool blocked on a school device or network. Yet 59% of these students say they simply switched to a personal device with less oversight \u2014\u00a0and less support \u2014 than a school-managed device or network.<\/p>\n

\"\"Darren Lam<\/p>\n

Lam, who plans to major in electrical engineering in college, said his Staten Island high school has a fairly open policy about AI \u2014 it\u2019s full of future coders and computer engineers, after all \u2014 but he worries more broadly that schools limiting access to AI tools could backfire.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough it can sometimes prevent some harmful behavior that may arise,\u201d he said, \u201cit also prevents students from learning how to use it effectively, which is going to be a very pivotal skill coming into this job market.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

4. Teens are clear on which skills matter most going forward.<\/p>\n

Asked to name the skills that matter most for their future, teens zeroed in on a few key ones, dubbed \u201cthe human skills that AI can\u2019t or shouldn\u2019t replace\u201d by Common Sense:<\/p>\n

55% chose \u201cworking well with others\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

50% chose \u201cfact-checking and critical thinking\u201d<\/p>\n

48% chose \u201creading and understanding complex information\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"John King<\/p>\n

King, the former Education Secretary, who now leads<\/a> the State University of New York, said helping students develop these skills in response to AI will be difficult, but educators can\u2019t bury their heads in the sand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of teachers already, understandably, feel overwhelmed by the core challenge of getting students the academic knowledge and skills they need,\u201d he said. Noting that many schools are still doing \u201crecovery work\u201d from the disruption of the COVID pandemic, he said, \u201cI\u2019m sure it feels like a lot. That\u2019s certainly true for our faculty at SUNY, but I think the reality is these tools are here. Students are using them, and we have to respond thoughtfully.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

5. AI literacy instruction in schools is the exception, not the rule.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new findings arrive Tuesday alongside the launch of a new Common Sense Digital Literacy & Well-Being Curriculum<\/a> and a new AI and Student Well-Being professional development course. The curriculum offers a research-backed framework for building students\u2019 AI literacy skills through two courses, one designed for K-8 students and a second for high school students.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

RelatedWhen It Comes to Developing Policies on AI in K-12, Schools Are Largely On Their Own<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the survey findings, only 30% of teens overall say a teacher has ever talked with them about how to use AI safely \u2014 and just 26% say teachers have discussed how to evaluate whether AI-generated information is accurate or trustworthy.<\/p>\n

Alex Kotran, CEO of the AI Education Project<\/a>, said that\u2019s especially troubling, given AI\u2019s prominence in kids\u2019 lives. \u201cThe fact that 70% of kids haven\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key to addressing the crisis of students using AI to offload cognitive effort, he said, is\u00a0 training teachers how it works. \u201cThere is no solution that doesn\u2019t involve a teacher just understanding how AI can be used, and through that understanding [and] adapting assignments and lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

RelatedStudents Convene to Hammer Out AI Bill of Rights for Schools<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Like other observers, Kotran suggests that teachers use this moment to rethink assessments, turning to in-class demonstrations, talks and the like to ensure that students understand material.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if a student is going home and using AI, it\u2019s not going to help them because ultimately they\u2019re going to have to go and demonstrate their knowledge in the classroom,\u201d Kotran said. \u201cI think it is as simple as that. There are other ways to adapt assignments, but I think it\u2019s really hard to adapt your assignments if you don\u2019t understand what AI is actually capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did you use this article in your work?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We\u2019d love to hear how The 74\u2019s reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers. Tell us how<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Over the past…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,10325,70653,4576,66],"class_list":["post-143431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-critical-thinking","tag-john-king","tag-k-12-education","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}