Teens are using AI. Here’s how parents can talk about it

Life Kit

NPR

Self-improvement, Kids & Family, Education, Health & Fitness, Business

4.5 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

High school and college students graduating in 2026 will have had access to artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT since their freshman year. Teens are using it in creative ways to help them study, but many have also received little to no guidance on responsible use. In this episode, we discuss how to talk to teens about AI, including its risks and potential benefits for young people.

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Transcript

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0:38.2	You're listening to LifeKit from NPR.
0:44.0	Hey everybody, it's Mariel.
0:46.4	It has been less than three years since ChatGPT was released, and now millions of people
0:51.6	across the world use it, and other generative artificial intelligence models like Claude or Google Gemini.
0:58.3	A lot of those people are kids and teens.
1:01.6	A Pew Research Center survey from last year found that about one in four 13 to 17-year-olds
1:07.1	used chat GPT for schoolwork.
1:09.7	And nearly three-quarters of teens surveyed by the
1:12.2	nonprofit common sense media had used an AI companion. Those are chatbots designed to mimic human
1:18.5	relationships. Both of those surveys, by the way, talked to about a thousand teens. Education
1:24.2	reporter Lee Gaines has been following this. She's been looking specifically at how AI is changing the way kids and teens learn.
1:31.3	And she's found that a lot of these kids are using AI with little to no guidance from adults.
	...

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