By Michael Gryboski, Editor Friday, February 27, 2026

Parents underestimate the extent to which their children use AI, such as chatbots, according to a recent report.

Pew Research Center published a report on Tuesday that, among other things, compared how parents assessed their teenagers’ use of AI chatbots to how much they actually use them.

Pew found that while 51% of parents said their teenager uses an AI chatbot, 64% of teenagers reported doing so, representing an underestimation of 13%.

The report also found that 42% of parents haven't talked to their teenage children about AI chatbots, and 28% were unsure whether their teenage children use chatbots.

Data for the report came from an online survey of 1,458 U.S. teens aged 13-17 and their parents from Sept. 25 through Oct. 9, 2025, with a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percentage points.

The research also found that while 79% of parents were OK with their teen using chatbots “to search for information” and 69% were OK with them using it “for fun or entertainment,” only 18% were OK with their teen using chatbots “to get emotional support or advice.”

In a separate report based on the same data published Tuesday, 54% of teens said they have used chatbots for help with schoolwork, while 47% said they used it for entertainment, 16% said they used it for “casual conversation,” and 12% said they used it for “emotional support or advice.”

The other report found that 10% of teens said they use chatbots for “all or most” of their schoolwork, while 21% said they use them for “some” of their schoolwork, 23% said they use them “a little,” and 45% reported not using chatbots at all for schoolwork.

“Teens are far more likely to say chatbots are helpful for schoolwork, rather than unhelpful,” reported Pew. “In fact, about a quarter of all teens say chatbots have been extremely or very helpful for completing their schoolwork, and another 25% say they’ve been somewhat helpful.”

“From what counts as cheating to trouble detecting it, the rise of AI in classrooms has posed a thorny issue for teachers. Our survey shows that many teens think cheating with AI has become a regular feature of student life.”

Some individuals and advocates have warned about the growing use of AI among students, believing that such features, among other things, harm their emotional and intellectual development.

Last August, parents of a 16-year-old California teen who killed himself filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the company's chatbot coached their son on how to kill himself.

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/parents-underestimating-their-teens-use-of-ai-chatbots-poll.html