Research: AI use among children and young people aged 8 to 25

Today, several newspapers report the results of a study into AI use among Christian children and young people aged 8 to 25. I had the privilege of being involved in this study as a supervisor, and I did so with great joy.

The figures don't really surprise me. 93% of the 1,336 young people surveyed use AI, a large part daily or weekly. In primary school, around 80% already use AI now and then. And that seems logical to me in itself: AI also offers a lot of possibilities.

At the same time, its use calls for guidance, both at home and at school. And that guidance is still too often missing, this research shows. Even parents and teachers who use AI themselves hardly guide their children in it.

I find that risky. For example because learning — across generations — can really be disrupted when many assignments can be done one-to-one by a chatbot. There is also a growing inequality between pupils, in guidance and tools, and it turns out that far from all pupils are able to critically assess the output.

It moved me to read the concerns that young people aged 8 to 25 noted about AI, concerns they can actually share with hardly anyone: about their working future, the environment, privacy, the right of humanity to exist, and global developments within AI.

Being open to that, as a parent and as a teacher, seems to me at least the minimum we can do.