This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Researchers have found that we know very little about how artificial intelligence use impacts younger school children's ability to learn and think. "It is striking how little solid knowledge we have about how AI use affects basic skills in younger pupils.
This is problematic because the influence occurs while schoolchildren are still developing," says Hilde Storrøsæter, Ph.D. research fellow at Norwegian University of Science and Technology's Department of Teacher Education. Storrøsæter has analyzed 173 international research articles on the use of generative artificial intelligence (machine learning techniques where the goal is not only to analyze data, but also to create new data, for example in the form of text, images, audio, video or programming code. The most widespread use of generative AI is through chatbots, such as ChatGPT) in schoolwork and education.
Her study was conducted with a group of colleagues from Czech universities and is published in the Journal of Information Technology Education: Research. The goal of the literature review was to find out whether AI tools strengthen or weaken children and youths' ability to think critically and solve problems independently. Many people believe that these skills have never been more important than they are now, in the 21st century.
"The most important finding is that AI in and of itself does not make us any better or worse at thinking. It's easy to believe that the tools will either strengthen or weaken learning. We found a clear dual effect.
The same technology can do both," said Storrøsæter, who is also a geographer and teacher who focuses on subject-matter pedagogy. AI tools support important skills when they are used to challenge, ask questions, compare different viewpoints and build one's own line of reasoning. "But when AI becomes a shortcut to a ready-made answer, the chance of overdependence, more superficial thinking and weakened independent problem-solving increases," Storrøsæter says.
The Norwegian Media Authority's survey (in Norwegian) on the media habits of 9- to 18-year-olds shows that the use of Google searches fell from 72% in 2024 to 47% in 2026 for this age group. The report shows that 39% of Norwegian 11- to 12-year-olds use AI. The website ung.no—Norway's online information and communication channel for young people ages 13 to 20—is also losing traffic because young people are switching to AI tools to find answers to their questions.
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