An overwhelming percentage of educators fear students’ increasing reliance on generative artificial intelligence tools to complete assignments will hinder their critical thinking skills and make them dependent on the technology for basic tasks, a report released this month by the College Board found.
Some high schoolers are also concerned about those potential pitfalls. But despite the fears, more than two-thirds of two thirds of those teens—69%—use AI tools regularly to find information. And a majority—54%—use them to answer questions.
“I worry that there’s a little bit of a perception gap [with] the students thinking ‘this is grand!’ and the teachers thinking ‘this is not really helping them,’” said Jessica Howell, the vice president of research at the College Board, the nonprofit organization that oversees the SAT college entrance exam and Advanced Placement program.
For instance, nearly all principals—100%—surveyed by the College Board said they were “very” or “somewhat” worried that AI could be used for cheating. By contrast, less than half of students—42%—cited the potential to cheat as a downside of the technology.
Similarly, less than half of students—45%—worry that AI use could erode important skills in areas like memory or learning. And a little more than half—52%—are concerned they could become overly reliant on the technology.
Far more educators expressed those fears, however, the College Board found.
Eighty-nine percent of the principals surveyed worry AI use could make students dependent on technology for basic tasks. Eighty-seven percent say the tools could make it less likely students will develop critical thinking skills. And 82% worry that use of AI tools could get in the way of students engaging deeply with course material.
What’s more, high school students’ use of artificial intelligence tools for schoolwork is on the rise, the survey found. The percentage of students who use AI in some way for assignments increased from 79 percent in January to 84 percent in May.
At this point, generative AI tools are so new that experts aren’t sure what their long-term effect on students’ cognitive development will be, Howell said. That’s why further research will be critical.
“There are some really important holes around how AI impacts learning,” Howell said.
Students must train a critical eye on the answers they get from AI
Compounding the challenge: Schools are still finding their way on AI literacy, or explaining to students the problems and pitfalls of the technology. While there are plenty of frameworks, there are no real, tried-and-true best practices yet.
Chad Sussex, an assistant principal at Winterset High School in Iowa, about 40 miles southwest of Des Moines, is confident that teachers might be able to help keep AI from hurting students’ long-term learning capacity if they emphasize that users need to bring a critical eye to the technology’s recommendations.
“If we can [teach AI] the right way, then we can help reduce that the concern of students using AI todo all [their] thinking,” Sussex said.
The data analyzed in the College Board’s report come from multiple College Board surveys administered between June of 2024 and June of 2025 to students, parents, and high school educators. Sample sizes ranged from 550 AP coordinators to 1,600 teachers. The principal survey included 500 principals.
