Pew Finds 57% of US Teens Use AI as Kids Voice Mixed Hopes and Fears

1 articles · Updated · MIT Technology Review · Aug 13

Interviews with children ages 10 to 18 found most use AI at least a little, but many set clear limits—especially around creativity, schoolwork, and decisions they want to keep making themselves.
Pew data published in February 2026 broadly matched that picture: 57% of US teens used chatbots to search for information, 54% for schoolwork, 47% for entertainment, and only 12% for emotional support or advice.
Kids described AI as useful for coding help, grammar checks, tutoring, civic-information tools, and diabetes management, while also warning about cheating, misinformation, unfiltered content, wrong answers, and overreliance.
Several teens said their biggest worries were not job loss but broader social effects—erosion of critical thinking, harm to creativity, and environmental costs tied to data centers’ water use and heat.
The overall takeaway was neither enthusiasm nor rejection: young users often see AI as a tool that needs guardrails, with education and supervision favored over avoidance.