Teens Speak Out on AI 

As schools, parents, environmentalists, and pretty much everyone else debate the takeover of AI, YC has been gathering teens’ opinions on the technology and what it means for their lives. Many YC writers describe a similar arc in school: Over the course of about two years, messaging from teachers and administrators went from “Don’t use AI to cheat” to “Here’s how students and teachers will now use AI.” 

Several YC writers see a distinction between using AI for math/science coursework and using it in pursuits involving the arts or literature. Tasfia says, “STEM has no nuance, so AI makes more sense there. For writing, it’s good to get different editors’ input, and AI won’t do that.” 

Another teen confirmed that “AI is getting me through chemistry.” Several pointed to the sheer volume of material in a STEM class and said that AI tools help them keep track of it all. Others noted that AI can speed important advances in medical fields. A senior who wishes to stay anonymous uses AI for math, but is dismayed when his teacher uses AI to grade student-written essays. 

More Tool or Crutch?

Maggie is also upset at how AI encroaches on her learning. She adds that it seems like most of her classmates share her skepticism, though many use it for mundane tasks.

I think about half of the kids I know at school use AI to do tasks like make study guides, organize club budget proposals, make flash cards, or summarize readings to make their studying easier. Lots of kids use it to organize travel plans, find cheap flights, or calculate what grade they need on their final exam to get an A in the class. 

Very few people use it to cheat outright, and those who do often get made fun of. I used to assume I was surrounded by AI users, but once I started to look a little closer, I noticed that many people seemed reluctant or even outraged when teachers suggested AI use. 

In fact, the most consistent AI users I have come across are adults, including teachers. Even so, I have enough friends who care more about maintaining their pristine GPA than the environmental impact of AI to feel hesitant raising my concerns openly in class.

Ari, Maggie’s fellow Bard HS student, says that to keep AI out of the classroom, “many teachers are having us annotate on printouts of stories [as teachers avoid computer-based tools like Google Docs].” 

When Does Easy Simply Mean Lazy?

Ari also points out, however, that “I have seen multiple teachers use it to consult.” 

Another teen has observed a similar disconnect in her high school between her own resistance to the technology and some teachers embracing it. She warns, 

I think it is a danger to the adaptation and evolution of humans. I have peers who say, “School is hard and AI makes it easier.” Does it make school easier, or does it make you lazier? When assignments come out, most of my classmates quickly take a picture and upload it onto ChatGPT. What these people are doing without realizing is lowering their cognitive skills and ultimately becoming boring. Without your brain working for answers it’s just copy-and-paste from AI to a Google Doc.

I find that people who don’t use AI are more opinionated and passionate about their hobbies than people who use AI for simple tasks.

In my Spanish class, my teacher asked us to “input the rubric into [Microsoft’s] Copilot, then copy and paste your paragraph, and tell me what grade it gave you.” AI is being shoved down our throats and I will vomit it out until they stop trying to make the use of AI mandatory.

Environmental Damage

Maggie is one of several YC writers who decry the environmental destruction threatened by AI. AI is powered using data centers, large warehouse-like buildings filled with computer hardware running 24 hours a day. Data centers use enormous amounts of water and energy, and increasingly, citizens are organizing against those effects on their municipalities (along with their longer-term contribution to climate change). A recent Gallup poll found that 70% of Americans are against having data centers in their area. 

“AI seems stupid. It causes societal disconnect. There are not as many study groups. Instead of asking a friend how to do something, people use AI.” 

If It’s AI, Is It Art?

Several YC writers have marveled at AI seeping into creative endeavors. Ryly, a college freshman, acknowledges that they have to use it as they pursue their career: “As a student in a creative field at an art and technology college, it’s shocking the amount of AI that’s being taught in classes. But learning how to use AI might become a part of my career in the future, so I’m learning what I can.”

What makes less sense, though, is using it for fiction. Ryly writes, “I’m even seeing AI-generated writing in art platforms like Ao3. Ao3 is an archive website made for writers and readers to read and create free stories, including a lot of fan fiction. Ao3 is meant to be a place for passionate writers to share their work. 

“But as I search for stories online,” they continue, “I’m seeing more and more stories that are tagged ‘Chat GPT’ or ‘AI-generated.’ I skip over those stories; the other ones have more style and personality. I feel like I can tell who a person is from their writing. It’s the same reason I don’t use AI for my creative work. Writing is how I express my unique voice, and I want my stories to come from my own human experiences.”

Elizabeth concurs: “Fan fiction should be DIY!” she declared at a recent YC writers’ meeting. And Jinx, a singer-songwriter, recounted being pushed into using AI at a workshop on music production where high school students were mentored by young adults. These adults were “tech bros,” Jinx said, laughing incredulously, and she described how the bros suggested using AI for every step of the creative process, from songwriting to production to album cover design.

The Toll on Human Connection

Another teen said in a writers’ meeting, “AI seems stupid. It causes societal disconnect. There are not as many study groups. Instead of asking a friend how to do something, people use AI.” 

Tasfia pointed out that when talking to humans, as opposed to AI, “you regulate your ways of interacting with different people. You tailor who you are in any given interaction to who you’re talking to.” With an AI chatbot, she added, “You are being the same person the whole time because there’s no mutuality, no give and take.”

That give and take is what Elizabeth bemoans in recounting how an acquaintance, who in the past had come to Elizabeth for feedback on creative projects, ultimately drifted to using a bot for creative collaboration. It’s part of a larger set of concerns Elizabeth has with AI and the way it’s programmed to please users, not help them grow through human interaction.

Lylagrace knows the difference between human companionship and what she gets from confiding in a bot. Her story about seeking comfort in chats with AI shows extraordinary self-awareness; for example, she is reassured by receiving unconditional approval, even as she sees through it:  “Whether I pushed, insulted, or antagonized a peer, AI says I’m right. I like that even though I don’t really believe it.”

The process of writing her story and reflecting on AI’s role in her emotional life brings Lylagrace many insights. Among them is that by opening up to friends and peers, she will find more meaningful—if less predictable—forms of consolation, such as solidarity.

Elizabeth concurs in her story: “Communication with an AI character might give someone the feeling of being seen. But what’s actually seeing you? What humans thrive on is honesty. A full palette of opinions and feelings is what makes us whole.”