New Report on Student AI Adoption
OpenAI just released a new report highlighting college student adoption of ChatGPT, citing over a third of college-aged young adults are using the AI chatbot.
A few things worth pointing out:
They define “students” as anyone aged 18-24 and provide no data on 13-17 year olds or 18 year olds in high school
Claim both college students and learning as the top demographic and use case, though they failed to provide data supporting this
Their findings from a survey of ~1200 of college-age students:
They reported that over 25% of their interactions are education-related (learning, tutoring, schoolwork)
75% wanted to incorporate AI in their education and careers
Adoption isn't equal across states - with highest adoption in CA, VA, NJ, NY, AZ, WA
In the report, OpenAI emphasizes the need to integrate AI into formal education rather than leaving students to learn informally, noting that major barriers to adoption include lack of knowledge, confidence, university support, and concerns about parent/teacher reactions.
While we find the report somewhat flimsy, self-serving, and missing important supporting data, we agree with the pressing need for a more formal, structured approach to AI literacy for all people, especially its critical importance for students. We cannot wait, and AI literacy plans need to be prioritized for the next semester.
You can find the original post and full OpenAI report here:
