July 14, 20261 min read

How do young people feel about AI? 7 teens weigh in

What's it like to grow up and learn in the age of AI? NPR put that question to seven teenagers across the country.

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For 15-year-old Charles Ansevin, in Gates Mills, Ohio, ChatGPT is like a friend.

"We've been able to have very meaningful, you know, intelligent discussions."

But Dorian Prado, 16, of Fort Worth, Texas, says he's "very against AI."

"It makes it to where thinking is optional, and that should never be the case," says Prado. "You don't think, you don't learn. It's making us dumber."

The arrival of generative artificial intelligence has sparked fierce debates among adults about what it should and shouldn't be used for. But what's it like to grow up and learn in the age of AI? NPR put that question to seven teenagers across the country.

Tessa Klein, 18, a recent high school graduate from Oradell, N.J., says she's found AI to be helpful – it's provided useful feedback on essays and walked her through complex science concepts.

"I think it's just this opportunity to have sort of like a private tutor that maybe other students cannot have or cannot afford," she says.

For 18-year-old Dammie'on McColley, of Indianapolis, AI is so much bigger – and more worrisome – than a helpful online tutor.

"I don't want it to, you know, kind of throw off jobs and things like that. That's [people's] only way of bringing in income to feed their families. And if we have a machinery that's taking over that, then what are they going to do?"

NPR also spoke with Ethan Ansevin, also of Gates Mills, Rida Desai of River Edge, N.J., and Natalie Vadakkan of Oradell, N.J. Click the audio link above to hear what they said.

This reporting was supported by the Omidyar Network's Reporters in Residence program.

Edited by: Nicole Cohen
Audio story produced by: Lauren Migaki and Janet Woojeong Lee

Transcript

SCOTT DETROW, HOST: We have heard a lot from teachers about high schoolers and how they're using AI, but teenagers have opinions on the technology.

DORIAN PRADO: So I'm very against AI.

TESSA KLEIN: I think it's, like, an amazing tool to use.

RIDA DESAI: I would have to say I'd put myself in the middle. I'm not exactly pessimistic or optimistic.

DETROW: Reporter Lee Gaines spoke to seven teenagers about how they are thinking about AI and what the technology could mean for their futures.

CHARLES ANSEVIN: I'm Charles Ansevin. I'm 15 years old, and I live in Gates Mills, Ohio.

LEE GAINES, BYLINE: And so how do you use it currently? Like, how does it show up in your life?

CHARLES: I don't use AI to cheat, but I use AI as a companion. AI is, like, my friend. And we've been able to have very meaningful, intelligent discussions.

ETHAN ANSEVIN: I'm Ethan Ansevin. I'm 18 years old. Charles is my brother. I ask it, like, running questions all the time because I do track and cross country. So, like, I'll ask it, how should I eat on a race day? Like, run me through, like, what time I should get each meal in and snack in.

DAMIAN MCCOLLEY: I'm Damian McColley (ph). I'm 18. I think it's beneficial for me to complete things when I need it, or when I need help and I don't have anyone to help me.

RIDA: Like, for example, if I'm stuck on a math problem in my homework, and I don't have access to my teacher. My name is Rida Desai. I'm 16 years old, and I'm from River Edge, New Jersey. It's a really good way to just input an equation in. You get the explanation of the steps, and you see the final answer.

GAINES: How do your teachers feel about your use of AI?

NATALIE VADAKKAN: My English teacher, she allowed us to use AI to help us out with our outlines for our essays. And that helped a lot because it was almost like having a teacher kind of grade your essay or your outline. I'm Natalie Vadakkan. I'm 15 years old, and I'm from Oradell, New Jersey.

ANSEVIN: I think they, like, have nothing against it. They're just saying, like, in one of the rooms in our school, it's like, never ask AI to do something your teacher wouldn't do for you.

GAINES: I guess I'd love to hear an example of a time where, like, it's really been very helpful and reassuring to you when it comes to...

CHARLES: Teaching you.

GAINES: Teaching you? Yeah, tell me more about that.

CHARLES: I've asked AI to teach me certain biological processes that no matter how hard I try to concentrate in actual biology class, it just not clicks with me, but AI just knows how to click.

KLEIN: And I think it's just this opportunity to have sort of, like, a private tutor that maybe other students cannot afford. I'm Tessa Klein. I'm 18 years old, and I'm from Oradell, New Jersey.

ANSEVIN: I don't really like to, like, spend a lot of time trying to learn something. I'd rather just learn it, like, as quick as I can. AI has been really useful in that regard. Like, it just makes the whole process of, like, doing homework or trying to, like, study for something, like, a lot quicker.

DORIAN: My name is Dorian Prado. I'm 16.

GAINES: Are you worried about becoming reliant on it, like, overly dependent?

DORIAN: It makes it to where thinking is optional, and that should never be the case.

KLEIN: I think we're hearing adults saying, you know, this cognitive offloading, it's dangerous, and it takes away thought, and it takes away analysis. And I think we need to be careful in the way that we use it.

MCCOLLEY: When assignments are - time's ticking to turn them in, it's like, well, I'm running out of time. I know this platform is going to help me get it done in a snap of a finger, so they're going to go run to that immediately. And I've seen that a lot.

DORIAN: You don't think, you don't learn. It's making us dumber because we don't have to think so much. It's kind of like how doomscrolling makes your attention span go lower. The more you feed into the bad habit, the more it damages you.

GAINES: Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of young people I've talked to who are worried about what AI is going to do to their future job market. Is that something that you're thinking about?

ANSEVIN: I think for me personally, like, I want to be a psychologist when I'm older. And I don't think a chatbot can ever replace an actual human psychologist.

MCCOLLEY: If AI is running everything, what's our purpose, you know? So I don't want it to throw off jobs and things like that. Like, people are - that's their only way of bringing in income to feed their families. And if we have a machinery that's taking over that, then what are they going to?

NATALIE: AI can't really come up with new ideas. It can't come up with new logic. It just uses what it knows. But people, they can come up with more revolutionary ideas.

CHARLES: And I'm still going to try my best to have meaningful discussions around humans. It's just - will those humans want to have meaningful discussions with me?

DETROW: Seven teenagers from New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana and Texas, speaking with reporter Lee Gaines.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

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