You pull out your social studies homework: Pick an invention. Write about how it changed the world. 

    You groan. Your mind goes totally blank. 

    Then you have an idea: Why not ask ChatGPT to brainstorm with you? After all, you just need help getting started. 

    More than half of U.S. teens say they’ve used AI tools for help with homework. That could mean asking a chatbot to do anything from research a topic to edit an essay. “I ask ChatGPT to reteach lessons that I didn’t understand in class,” explains Violet H., 14.

    At the same time, many experts and teachers­—and even some students—are worried. They wonder: Is using AI in these ways cheating? And can relying on it hold you back?

    You look at your social studies homework: Pick an invention. Write about how it changed the world.

    You groan. Your mind goes blank.

    So you use ChatGPT to brainstorm. After all, you just need help getting started.

    More than half of U.S. teens say they’ve used AI tools for help with homework. They might ask a chatbot to research a topic. They might ask it to edit an essay or do something else. “I ask ChatGPT to reteach lessons that I didn’t understand in class,” says Violet H., 14.

    But many experts, teachers, and even some students are worried. They wonder: Is using AI cheating? And can it hold you back?

    You pull out your social studies homework: Pick an invention. Write about how it changed the world.

    You groan. Your mind goes totally blank.

    Then you have an idea: You’ll ask ChatGPT to brainstorm with you. After all, you just need some help getting started.

    More than half of U.S. teens say they’ve used AI tools for help with homework. That could mean asking a chatbot to do anything from research a topic to edit an essay. “I ask ChatGPT to reteach lessons that I didn’t understand in class,” recalls Violet H., 14.

    At the same time, many experts and teachers—and even some students—are worried. They wonder: Is using AI in these ways cheating? And can relying on it hold you back?

    AI (artificial intelligence) is a powerful technology. It allows computers to do things that normally require a human’s ability to think or learn. Some AI tools have been around for a while. Take Siri, for example. Apple put it on iPhones in 2011. It has been helping people check the weather and send texts ever since.

    Around 2022, though, something happened: AI chatbots got more advanced. Now programs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can design a whole website. They can quickly sum up an entire book. Some can even generate photos and videos. 

    This new technology may sound incredible. But experts warn that it also has a dark side. As AI chatbots are built, they are trained on giant amounts of online information. This may include text from books, articles, and social media. 

    Obviously not everything on the internet is true. And some information is biased. Chatbots still learn from these sources though.

    That is one of the reasons you sometimes get information that is wrong or one-sided. 

    AI (artificial intelligence) is a powerful technology. It allows computers to do things that normally require a human’s ability to think or learn. Some AI tools have been around for a while. Back in 2011, Apple put Siri on iPhones. It helps people check the weather. It helps them send texts too.

    Around 2022, AI chatbots got more advanced. Now programs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can design a website. They can quickly sum up a book. Some can generate photos and videos.

    AI technology may sound great. But experts say it has a dark side. AI chatbots are trained on online information. This may include text from books, articles, and social media.

    Not everything on the internet is true. And some information is biased. But chatbots still learn from these sources.

    That is one of the reasons you sometimes get information that is wrong or one-sided

    AI (artificial intelligence) is a powerful technology that allows computers to do things that normally require a human’s ability to think or learn. Some AI tools, such as Siri, have been around for a while. Apple installed Siri on iPhones in 2011, and it has been helping people check the weather and send texts ever since.

    Around 2022, though, something significant happened: AI chatbots became more advanced. Now programs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can design a whole website. They can quickly summarize an entire book. Some can even generate photos and videos.

    This new technology might sound incredible, but experts warn that it also has a dark side. As AI chatbots are built, they are trained on massive amounts of information that is housed online, including text from books, articles, and social media.

    Obviously, not everything on the internet is true, and some information is biased. Regardless, chatbots learn from these sources.

    That’s one of the reasons you sometimes get information that is wrong or one-sided.

    Using AI every now and then may not be so bad. But studies have shown that becoming dependent on it can be harmful. It can shorten your attention span. It can also affect your ability to think deeply and solve problems. 

    Let’s say you’re researching why penguins can’t fly. You read some articles online. Then you sum up what you’ve learned in a paragraph. This teaches you how to collect information. It also forces you to sort out what’s most important. But if you ask a chatbot to do all of that for you, you won’t learn those skills. 

    Katie Durkin is a middle school teacher in Connecticut. She says the homework she assigns helps her figure out what students are struggling with. “I want to help them become better writers and readers,” Durkin explains. 

    But if they use AI, she says, it’s hard to know which skills they still need to work on.  

    Using AI now and then may be OK. But becoming dependent on it can be bad. It can shorten your attention span. It can affect how well you solve problems.

    Let’s say you’re researching penguins. You read some articles. You sum up what you’ve read. This teaches you how to collect information and sort out what’s important. But what if a chatbot does it for you? You won’t learn those skills.

    Katie Durkin is a middle school teacher in Connecticut. She says homework helps her figure out what students need help with. “I want to help them become better writers and readers,” says Durkin.

    But if they use AI, she says, it’s hard to know which skills they still need to work on.

    Using AI occasionally might not be so bad, but studies have shown that becoming dependent on it can have negative consequences. It can shorten your attention span and affect your ability to think deeply and solve problems.

    Let’s say you’re researching why penguins can’t fly. You read some articles online, and then you sum up what you’ve learned in a paragraph. This process teaches you how to collect information, as well as how to identify the most important details. But if you ask a chatbot to do all of that for you, you won’t develop those skills.

    Katie Durkin, a middle school teacher in Connecticut, says the homework she assigns helps her figure out what students are struggling with. “I want to help them become better writers and readers,” Durkin explains.

    But if they use AI, she says, it’s hard to know which skills they still need to work on.

    Some people want to ban AI in the classroom altogether. But many experts agree that may not be the answer. Why? AI will continue to change. It will affect the way many workers do their jobs. Learning how to use it could help young people be more successful in the future. 

    If you do use AI, it’s important to learn how to use it in a responsible way. Here are some tips to keep in mind: 

• Check your school’s rules about AI.

    Does it have any? If so, what are they?

• Think about why you’re using AI. 

    Are you asking it to do work for you? Or are you asking it to check your work?

• Don’t let AI be your final answer.

    Always ask follow-up questions and consult other sources.

    And remember: Getting stuck on an assignment is not always a bad thing! Go offline. Talk to a friend. 

    Using AI might be faster. But your brain wants to help you find a solution. Let it! 

—Additional reporting by Lauren Davis

    Some people want to ban AI in the classroom. But many experts don’t agree with that. Why? AI will keep changing. It will affect the way many workers do their jobs. Learning how to use it could help young people be more successful in the future.

    If you do use AI, it’s important to use it in a responsible way. Here are some tips:

• Check your school’s rules about AI.

    Does it have any? If so, what are they?

• Think about why you’re using AI.

    Is it doing your work for you? Or is it checking your work?

• Don’t let AI be your final answer.

    Ask follow-up questions. Consult other sources.

    And remember: Getting stuck on an assignment is not always a bad thing! Go offline. Talk to a friend.

    Using AI might be faster. But your brain wants to help you find a solution. Let it! •

—Additional reporting by Lauren Davis

    Some people want to ban AI in the classroom altogether. But many experts say that may not be the answer. Why? AI will continue to change. It will affect the way many workers do their jobs, so learning how to use it could help young people be more successful in the future.

    If you do use AI, it’s important to learn how to use it in a responsible manner. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Check your school’s rules about AI.

    Does it have any? If so, what are they?

• Think about why you’re using AI.

    Are you asking it to do work for you? Or are you asking it to check your work?

• Don’t let AI be your final answer.

    Always ask follow-up questions and consult other sources.

    And remember: Getting stuck on an assignment is not always a bad thing! Go offline. Talk to a friend.

    Using AI might be faster, but your brain wants to help you find a solution. Let it! •

—Additional reporting by Lauren Davis

_{Special thanks to our experts: Dr. Molly O’Shea, pediatrician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics; Timothy Cook, an educator and researcher of the effects of AI in classrooms; and Nataliya Kos’myna, a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab}

_{Special thanks to our experts: Dr. Molly O’Shea, pediatrician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics; Timothy Cook, an educator and researcher of the effects of AI in classrooms; and Nataliya Kos’myna, a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab}

_{Special thanks to our experts: Dr. Molly O’Shea, pediatrician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics; Timothy Cook, an educator and researcher of the effects of AI in classrooms; and Nataliya Kos’myna, a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab}