More teens say they’re using ChatGPT for schoolwork, a new study finds

A recent poll from the Pew Research Center shows more and more teens are turning to ChatGPT for help with their homework.

3 things to know:

1. According to the survey, 26% of students ages 13-17 are using the artificial intelligence bot to help them with their assignments.
2. That’s double the number from 2023, when 13% reported the same habit when completing assignments.
3. Comfort levels with using ChatGPT for different types of assignments vary among students: 54% found that using it to research new topics, for example, was an acceptable use of the tool. But only 18% said the same for using it to write an essay.

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Where have I heard about ChatGPT in the classroom before?

At this point, these concerns have been covered widely in the media. When the chatbot first became broadly accessible to the public in late 2022, some school districts took a restrictive approach and enacted bans to prevent the tool from being abused by students.

Now, many districts have softened or reversed those bans. The Los Angeles Unified School District even began implementing their own AI tool called Ed.

But as Khari Johnson reported last year for CalMatters, there is little state regulation or oversight for AI implementation in California school districts. And while using these tools can lead to improved efficiency for, say, teachers grading papers, it has also been shown to give students grades that are inconsistent with the quality of their work.

“I think the AI regulatory regime that is emerging in a lot of places says that higher scrutiny should be placed on AI models with the possibility of having adverse impact on people’s lives. And this seems like it could potentially fit that description,” Johnson told NPR’s Ailsa Chang.

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