Demographic differences in how teens use and view AI

About this research

This study is Pew Research Center’s latest effort to explore the landscape of teens and technology today. It focuses on artificial intelligence – from how teens use chatbots to how they think about AI’s future impact. The study also dives deeply into how teens use AI chatbots for schoolwork and explores teens’ confidence in and awareness of AI. And it unpacks their parents’ views, too.

Why did we do this?

The Center conducts research to inform the public, journalists and decision-makers. Tracking the rise of AI in society and understanding the experiences of teens and their parents today have been key priorities for us over the years. This study brings those two things together.

Teens are often at the forefront of new technology, and AI is no different: Our December report showed that a majority of teens use AI chatbots. It’s important to understand how AI’s rise plays out in teens’ daily lives, at home and in school – as well as how their parents feel about these issues.

Learn more about Pew Research Center.

How did we do this?

We surveyed 1,458 U.S. teens and their parents online from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9, 2025. Our data collection partner Ipsos recruited the teens via their parents, who were part of its KnowledgePanel.

Findings about teens’ views and experiences represent the views of all U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 who live with their parents.

Findings about parents’ views and experiences represent the views of all U.S. parents of teens ages 13 to 17.

For both teens and parents, the overall margin of error is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

This research was reviewed and approved by an external institutional review board (IRB), Advarra. An IRB is an independent committee of experts that helps to protect the rights of research participants.

Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and the survey methodology.

Artificial intelligence is part of many teens’ online lives today, with a majority saying they’ve used chatbots. One takeaway from our recent survey? How they use AI – and what they think about it – is far from one-size-fits-all.

We’ve long explored teens’ tech use by factors like race, ethnicity, income and gender – from what platforms they use to how often they go online. We’ve also seen differences in teens’ overall use of chatbots and in how U.S. adults view AI.

Jump to the sections below for findings from Pew Research Center’s survey of 1,458 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17, conducted Sept. 25-Oct. 9, 2025. We walk through differences by teens’:

To see how teens overall use and view AI, check out the main report.

Racial and ethnic differences in teens’ AI chatbot use

A bar chart showing that Black, Hispanic teens stand out in using chatbots for schoolwork help, to summarize and create content

Black and Hispanic teens are more likely than White teens to say they use chatbots overall, according to our survey.¹

But these differences aren’t limited to overall use. How teens are using these tools – whether for schoolwork or getting news – often varies by race and ethnicity.

Schoolwork: About six-in-ten Black or Hispanic teens say they’ve used chatbots to get help with schoolwork. That drops to roughly half of White teens.

Summarizing or creating content: Black and Hispanic teens are more likely than their White peers to say they have turned to chatbots to summarize articles, books, or videos, or to create or edit images.

Getting emotional support or advice: While 21% of Black teens say they have done this, those shares drop to about one-in-ten for their Hispanic or White peers.

Casual conversations: Black teens are also more likely than White teens to say they’ve used chatbots for casual conversation (22% vs. 14%). (Hispanic teens don’t differ from either group.)

Getting news: About three-in-ten Black teens say they have gotten news in this way. This is higher than for both Hispanic and White teens.

Using chatbots for fun is the only place we see no statistical differences by race and ethnicity.

How chatbots are used for schoolwork

A bar chart showing that Black, Hispanic teens more likely to say chatbots are useful for schoolwork, and that they do much of it with their help

Educators are paying close attention to how chatbots are being used and debating what this could mean for academic outcomes. We find some teens are more likely to incorporate them into their assignments – or feel they benefit from them.

Specifically, Black and Hispanic teens are more likely to say chatbots have been helpful for their schoolwork – and more likely to use them frequently for this.

Roughly four-in-ten Black teens, and a statistically similar share of Hispanic teens, say chatbots have been extremely or very helpful for their schoolwork. Fewer White teens say the same.

At the same time, Black and Hispanic teens are more likely to say they do all or most of their schoolwork with chatbots’ help, versus their White peers.

Confidence using chatbots

Even outside of schoolwork, we find confidence in using chatbots varies by race and ethnicity.

About four-in-ten Black teens (37%) say they’re extremely or very confident, compared with roughly a quarter each of Hispanic (26%) or White (23%) teens.

Household income differences in using chatbots for schoolwork

A bar chart showing that Teens in households making under $75K are more likely to use chatbots for help with all or most schoolwork

How much teens are using AI for schoolwork also varies by household income.

One-in-five teens living in households making less than $30,000 a year say they do all or most of their schoolwork with AI chatbots’ help.

A similar share of those in households making $30,000 to just under $75,000 annually say this. Fewer teens living in higher-earning households (7%) say the same.

Gender differences in views of AI

Teen boys and girls use chatbots at similar rates and generally for the same kinds of tasks.

A dot plot showing that Teen boys more positive than girls about how AI will impact society, themselves

But there are some gender differences in teens’ outlook about AI – both for themselves and society, more broadly.

Boys are more likely than girls to think AI will have a positive impact on their own lives (41% vs. 30%) and on society (35% vs. 27%).

This is on par with findings among adults, where AI’s future impact is generally seen more positively among men than women.

Can AI do better than humans?

Teens also sometimes differ by gender when asked how AI would compare with humans on a variety of tasks.

Teen boys are more likely than teen girls to say AI would do a better job than people at:

Providing customer service (36% vs. 27%)
Driving someone from one place to another (27% vs. 19%)
Teaching a skill (37% vs. 31%)

There are no gender differences when asked about AI making a medical diagnosis, writing a song or making a hiring decision.

For more on how teens overall feel about these questions, read the main report.

There were not enough Asian teens in the sample to be broken out into a separate analysis. As always, their responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout the report.↩