Homework helper or someone to talk to? Four people on teens and AI chatbots
Most teens use AI chatbots now, mostly for school. Parents are fine with that part. It's the other conversations they're less sure about.
The thing itself
An AI chatbot is a program you type to, and it types back in full sentences. It can explain things, summarize, draft, or just chat. A few years ago it was a novelty. Now most teenagers use one.
- 64% of US teens aged 13 to 17 say they use AI chatbots, and about 3 in 10 use them every day. Only 51% of parents say their teen uses them; about 3 in 10 parents aren't sure (Pew Research Center, February 2026).
- Teens use them most to look things up (57%) and for schoolwork (54%). Fewer use them for casual conversation (16%) or for emotional support or advice (12%) (Pew, February 2026).
- About 8 in 10 parents are OK with chatbots for looking things up and roughly 6 in 10 for schoolwork. Fewer than a third are OK with casual chatting, and 18% with emotional support (Pew, February 2026).
- 59% of teens think students at their school use AI to cheat at least somewhat often (Pew, February 2026).
Seen from four chairs
Maya, 15
Mostly homework. Like chemistry. I'll read the chapter three times and still not get it, and it's 11 and everyone's asleep. So I ask it to explain it again, simpler. Sometimes I ask four times.
A couple of times I've asked it about other stuff. When I had a fight with a friend I asked it how to text her without making it worse. The answer was fine. I didn't really want to bring it up with my mom, because then we'd be talking about it for an hour. I know it's not a real person.
Her mom, 47
I'm fine with the homework part. I can't help her with chemistry anyway.
Once she left her laptop open and I saw a conversation about her friends, about a fight. It bothered me more than I expected. I didn't say anything for a few days. I guess I wish she'd asked me. But I also know by 11 I'm tired and not always patient with her.
Her English teacher, 38
A lot of the essays I get now read the same. Correct, tidy, and not much in them. So we do most of the writing in class now, on paper. More marking for me, but at least I know what they actually think.
One quiet student told me she uses it to practise what she wants to ask me before class. She asks more questions now. So I go back and forth on it.
Her grandfather, 74
People are surprised I use it. My son set it up for me. I ask it what my hospital letters mean, because the doctor talks fast and I forget half of what he said.
When Maya was little we worried she watched too much TV. My parents worried about comic books. I don't think this is the end of the world. But if she's talking to it because she's lonely, I'd want to know.
In their own words
The four people above are composites. These are real teens and a researcher, as quoted by the Associated Press in July 2025, when a Common Sense Media survey found that about a third of teens had discussed something serious with an AI companion instead of a person.
“AI is always available. It never gets bored with you. It's never judgmental.”
“I think kids use AI to get out of thinking.”
“Parents really have no idea this is happening.”
What each of them gets right
- Maya is typical. Schoolwork and looking things up really are the main uses for most teens.
- Her mom is worried about the same thing most parents are: the personal conversations, not the homework. And teens do use these tools more than their parents think.
- The teacher has a point that the effort is where the learning happens. Most teens say AI cheating is common at their school. The shy student is real too.
- The grandfather is a reminder that adults use these tools as well, and that the bigger question may be loneliness, not the app.
One thing to try
The four people in “Seen from four chairs” are composites, written from the research, reporting and first-person accounts below. They are not real individuals. The quotes under “In their own words” are from real people, as published in the linked sources. Numbers were checked on November 1, 2026.
Sources
- Pew Research Center — How Teens Use and View AI (February 24, 2026; survey of 1,458 US teens and their parents, Sept. 25 to Oct. 9, 2025)
- Associated Press — Teens say they are turning to AI for advice, friendship and 'to get out of thinking' (July 23, 2025)
