US teens are increasingly comfortable using generative AI

Roughly half of US teens use genAI compared with 34% of the general population, per our forecast. GenAI is incorporated into almost every digital platform teens use. Homework help is the leading use of genAI (53%), followed by entertainment (42%), according to Common Sense. The types of genAI tools teens use vary in frequency.

• Search engines are the genAI tool teens use most frequently. Fifty-six percent use genAI search engines at least once a month, per Common Sense. This is likely thanks to Google’s quick incorporation of an AI overview at the top of its search results.

• Twenty-four percent of teens use chatbots at least several times per week. GenAI chatbots, such as ChatGPT or Snapchat’s My AI, mimic conversational patterns when providing responses. They can provide summaries similar to genAI search engines and learn from prompts to provide increasingly specific answers. While chatbots are the second-most frequently used genAI interface among teens, only 36% trust the responses, according to the News Literacy Project. Half of teens have little or no trust, while 14% had never considered the question.
• Roughly a third or less of teens use AI image and video generators regularly. Examples include the DALL-E AI image generator and the Midjourney AI video generator. Concerns regarding the technology range from the spread of false information to art theft.

Per Common Sense, 39% of parents are unsure whether their teens are using genAI. The survey also found a gap between parent and teen usage of chatbots and image and video generators. Teens are exploring and picking up AI faster than their parents—largely unregulated and unsupervised.

Read the full report, US Teen Digital Habits 2025.