AI and Education With Kids

New data show artificial intelligence is now deeply embedded in U.S. education, with roughly half of American high school students using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to brainstorm, edit, and research homework. Nearly seven in ten students say they’ve relied on AI for assignments this year, raising growing concerns about learning, development, and academic independence.

While educators acknowledge AI can be a useful support tool, many warn that over-reliance may weaken critical thinking, slow cognitive development, and limit students’ ability to build knowledge, culture, and independent reasoning, especially at younger ages.

In Washington, the U.S. Department of Education has issued new guidance aligned with President Trump’s AI-education directive, urging responsible classroom use, stronger teacher training, and safeguards around privacy and child development. In Europe, schools are adapting to the EU’s risk-based AI Act, which treats educational AI as high-risk technology requiring transparency, oversight, and human control. Meanwhile, countries across the Middle East, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are moving faster, investing heavily in AI education, research universities, and mandatory AI literacy programs.

The debate is no longer whether AI belongs in schools, but how to use it without replacing thinking, learning, and the cultural foundation education is meant to provide. Migi Fabara reports.