Most parents think that using AI for schoolwork is unethical. Most kids and teens think it should actually be encouraged.
That’s just one place where parents and youth differ in their views on AI use, according to a new report from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that aims to promote the well-being of families and children when it comes to technology use.
According to the report, which centered around a survey of over 1,200 parents and 1,100 kids and teens between the ages of 12 and 17 across the United States, there are some significant gaps between parents and youth when it comes to AI.
Here are three key gaps the survey identified.
The ethics of using AI for schoolwork
One of the most significant gaps between parents and youth is on usage for schoolwork.
Fifty-two percent of parents believe that the use of AI for school assignments is “unethical and deserves consequences.”
On the other hand, just 34% of youth hold that same position, while 52% think that using AI for school work is “innovative and should be encouraged.
Parents have some incorrect assumptions about how youth use AI
The survey asked parents what they thought kids between the ages of 12 and 17 were mainly using AI for. Then, they asked youth in that same age bracket what they were actually doing.
That revealed some interesting discrepancies. For example, 23% of adults said that youth use AI primarily for companionship, while just 8% of youth said so.
Parents also underestimate how much youth use AI for more basic tasks. Thirty-five percent of youth said they use AI mainly to brainstorm ideas, while just 21% of parents thought that was the case.
Additionally, 59% of youth said they use AI for searching for information and facts, a full 17 percentage points higher than the 42% of parents who said they thought youth were mainly using AI for that purpose.
The ability to tell whether something is AI-generated or not
It turns out that parents have less faith in youth’s ability to tell AI apart from humans than youth do.
Just 42% of parents said that youth can tell if they’re interacting with an AI system or a human, while 70% of kids and teens said that they could.
Both groups have only moderate confidence in the ability of parents to recognize AI-generated content.
Fifty-eight percent of kids and teens are confident in their parents’ ability to do so, while just 53% of parents said the same.
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