New research by Oxford University Press (OUP) into AI in our classrooms reveals the extent to which young people are using Artificial Intelligence in their schoolwork. The report also examines their attitudes to it.

For Teaching the AI-Native Generation, OUP surveyed 2,000 students aged 13–18 across the UK. It finds that 8 in 10 young people use AI tools in their schoolwork, 9 in ten in London.

‘I now think faster than I used to’ male student, 14

Almost all young people agreed AI has helped them develop a skill with problem solving rated top by almost one fifth (18 percent) along with creating new ideas (15 percent), and revision and exam preparation (13 percent). Yet six in ten students (62 percent) felt AI had also negatively impacted skills in relation to their schoolwork with a quarter (26 percent) stating AI made it too easy to do work for them and one in ten (12 percent) believing it limits their creative thinking and impacts their creative writing (10 percent).

‘It does not allow me to challenge myself’ female student, 13

Among the top concerns for students (60 percent) was AI tools encouraging copying rather than original work and over half (51 percent) worry that AI resources may be biased or reinforce untrue stereotypes. Furthermore, 48 percent of young people are concerned pupils in their year are secretly using AI to do their schoolwork and almost as many (47 percent) worry their teachers are unable to spot when this happens.

The report finds that fewer than half of UK pupils (47 percent) feel confident identifying accurate AI-generated information. One third (32 percent) stated they can’t tell if AI content is true, whilst a fifth (21 percent) were unsure.

Almost half (48 percent) of pupils want support from their teachers to help them understand what content generated by AI is trustworthy and reliable, with 51 percent of pupils calling for more clarity on when they should be using AI tools in their schoolwork. A further third of students believe their teachers are not confident in using AI tools in lessons and one in three pupils want their teachers to make more use of AI resources in the classroom.

Alongside the report, OUP is also unveiling their AI and Education Hub, a dedicated site regularly updated with articles, insights and top-tips from experts across the EdTech industry, including teacher led advice for peer-to-peer support. It includes further guidance for teachers on how to mitigate against the negative impact on skills and capitalise on the benefits AI offers in relation to education.

Amie Lawless, Secondary Product Director, at Oxford University Press, said, ‘It’s encouraging to see from the research how aware young people are of the challenges surrounding AI and how eagerly they want to collaborate with their teachers to address the issues. We know that teachers are under many different pressures, which is why we developed our new AI and Education Hub to bring together educators and experts across the industry to provide guidance, inspiration and support to schools as AI becomes increasingly integrated in the classroom. Most importantly however, the findings offer a valuable reminder of bringing together trusted content and sound learning design principles with responsible AI tools which put the learner’s needs at the core.’

On the AI and Education Hub schools will also find OUP’s AI Framework for UK School Resources, outlining the set of guiding values and principles OUP follows in the design of their AI tools for UK schools.

Read the report in full. It also includes Top Tips for embedding AI in the classroom.