Experts say AI is the new social media — and parents are not prepared

According to a new study, there is a gap between what parents think their kids are doing when they do homework online and that they're actually doing.

Common Sense Media, a company that aims to build a more healthy, equitable and empowering future for all kids in the digital age, talked to more than 1,000 teenagers to find out how they are interacting with AI, or Artificial Intelligence, on a daily basis.

The company's research found that 7 out of 10 teens between ages 13 and 18 use at least one type of generative AI tool that take a question or prompt and provide an instant answer.

Most often, teenagers are using these tools to do their homework.

"Parents and teachers are pretty much out of the loop, so that young people are using AI platforms with virtually no guidance," says Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media. In fact, only 37% of parents whose kids use AI actually knew their children were using it.

Steyer said that parents have learned valuable lessons about technology from the introduction of the social media craze. At the time, it had few guardrails and kids had unfettered access to a variety of outlets.

This time around, parents have a chance to get ahead of the wave.

The upside of AI

A growing number of experts, like Jonathan Haidt who wrote “The Anxious Generation, have expressed concern with the abundance of technological resources kids have access to.

But teens and technology aren't always a bad combination.

NBC's Kate Snow talked to Savannah Hill, a junior in high school who takes dance classes four days each week. Her busy schedule was "one of the reasons why I ended up resorting to ChatGPT," Hill says.

When she had trouble catching up on her work in physics class, Hill says she "would go to ChatGPT to understand the topic that was being taught."

Like many overwhelmed parents, Hill's mother, Muna Heaven, said she didn't know her daughter was using ChatGPT and felt "disappointed that the pace of the class got to the point where she had to find her own resources."

The discovery wasn't all bad, however. "I'm very proud that she found a way to teach herself independently." She added, "I think that aspect of AI is great."

Here's what parents need to know about AI

Nearly half of parents haven't talked to their teenage children about AI and the vast majority of parents say that schools haven't communicated with them about AI policies, says Common Sense Media.

So far, teens have been left to figure out their own rules about AI, which is why Steyer said, "It's essential for parents to take test drives with their kids, and learn with their kids how AI works."

For kids who utilize AI for schoolwork, Common Sense Media recommends teaching kids how to form the right prompt and fact check AI's responses.

It's also important to teach children not to rely on AI for all the answers.

Heaven noted how important it is for teenagers to "hold fast" to their "authentic voice," and that "the magic is in the creativity" that comes directly from the kids themselves

"And I think that maybe just raising their awareness of what's not good, having more conversations around the dinner table is what I see as one of the mechanisms to get our children through," she added.

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