Thursday, October 16, 2025

Digital Beat

AI Use—and Risk—on the Rise for Students

The Center for Democracy & Technology’s Hand in Hand: Schools’ Embrace of AI Connected to Increased Risks to Students examines the frequency and variety of artificial intelligence use in educational settings in the 2024-25 school year. CDT finds that teachers and students are using AI tools more than ever before. However, the rapid deployment of AI tools is outpacing professional training and school and district policies to ensure safe and effective implementation of the technology. 

• Eighty-five percent of teachers and 86 percent of students reported that they’ve used AI tools.
• Forty percent of teachers and 34 percent of students reported that AI is being used “some” ways in their school.
• Twenty-nine percent of teachers and 33 percent of students reported that AI is being used “many” ways in their school.

AI use also comes with risks to students, teachers, and educational systems. CDT lays out four emerging risks associated with increased AI use: 

1. Data breaches and ransomware attacks;
2. Tech-enabled sexual harassment and bullying;
3. AI systems that do not work as intended; and
4. Troubling interactions between students and technology. 

CDT also examines the impact of AI tools on teachers' roles and on the relationships among teachers, students, and parents.

Data Breaches and Ransomware Attacks

As AI use in education increases, so does the risk for data breaches and ransomware attacks. Teachers who use AI for many reasons are more likely to report that their schools have experienced a large-scale data breach, and stakeholder concern about the privacy and security of student data increases with school use of AI.

• Nineteen percent of parents reported that they were notified by their child’s school about a data breach or ransomware attack.
• Twenty-eight percent of teachers who use AI for many school-related reasons reported that their schools have experienced a large-scale data breach, compared to 23 percent of teachers overall.
• Sixty-nine percent of all parents whose schools use AI reported that they are concerned about student privacy and security. Interestingly, this number increases with parent AI usage: parents who frequently use AI report more concern than parents who never use AI (76 and 65 percent, respectively). 

Tech-Enabled Sexual Harassment and Bullying

Another challenge posed by the increased use of AI tools in the educational environment is the risk of technology-enabled deep fakes and non-consensual intimate imagery. 

• Deepfakes are videos, photos, or audio recordings that seem real but have been digitally manipulated—or faked—to make it seem as though a person has said or done something they have not actually done. Deepfakes are created with AI and are incredibly realistic, making it difficult for humans to distinguish between real-life and fake content.
• Non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) involves someone sharing explicit or intimate videos, photos, or audio recordings without the consent of the person who is depicted. Deepfake NCII are videos, photos, or audio recordings that seem real but have been digitally manipulated—or faked—to show someone in an explicit or intimate manner that they have not actually done.

The more teachers and students report that their school uses AI, the more likely they are to have heard of a deepfake and/or a deepfake NCII depicting someone associated with their school in the last school year (2024-25). 

However, less than a quarter of teachers (21 percent) report that their school or district has shared policies and procedures about how to address deepfake NCII. Specifically, just 10 percent of teachers have received guidance on how their school or district’s discipline policy applies to students who share deepfake NCII depicting another student, or on whom to tell if a student receives or views deepfake NCII. Fewer than 1 in 10 teachers (9 percent) have received guidance on how to protect the privacy of students depicted in deepfake NCII or how to communicate with families of students involved in deepfake NCII incidents. 

Less than half of students (40 percent) reported receiving guidance or discussion on deepfake NCII, and just 11 percent had been told where to report it. 

AI Systems that do not Work as Intended

As AI tools become more common in classrooms, there is a growing risk that systems will not work as intended, with approximately a quarter (23 percent) of all teachers reporting an AI failure in the last school year. 

• Thirteen percent of teachers reported that they or a colleague had experienced an AI system used in a class that failed to work as described.
• One in 10 teachers reported an instance of an AI system failing to treat students fairly.
• One in 10 teachers reported that the use of an AI system had damaged the school’s trust with the community.

However, few students and teachers are receiving training on what to do if they encounter issues.

• Fourteen percent of teachers and students have received guidance on what to do if they encounter issues with AI tools.
• Only eleven percent of teachers received training or information on how to respond if they suspect a student’s AI use is detrimental to their well-being. 

Troubling Interactions Between Students and Technology

As AI use in schools increases, parents and teachers expressed concern about how students may use AI for back-and-forth conversations. The majority of students (66 percent) report that they or a friend have had a back-and-forth conversation with an AI, such as a chatbot. Those conversations range from academic (to learn more about topics outside of class) to non-academic (to get advice on relationships or to get mental health support). 

Students whose schools use AI for many reasons are more likely to report that they or a friend of theirs has had a back-and-forth conversation with AI in potentially troubling ways. 

• Nearly a third of students (32 percent) whose schools use AI for many reasons reported that they or a friend have had a romantic relationship with AI, compared to just 9 percent of students whose schools use AI for few or no reasons. 
• Forty-two percent of students reported that they or a friend had used back-and-forth conversations with AI to escape reality.
• Both parents (42 percent) and teachers (39 percent) reported concern about students developing an emotional connection to AI.

Teacher and Student Interactions

As the use of AI tools increases in classrooms, they risk changing how teachers and students connect and learn, both positively and negatively. Teachers, parents, and students report different concerns and levels of concern about the impact of AI in the classroom. 

A majority of teachers agree that AI tools can provide some benefits, but express that student use of AI has created new burdens on teachers.

• Sixty-nine percent of teachers agreed that AI tools help them improve their teaching methods or skills, and 55 percent agreed that using an AI system gives them more time to interact directly with their students. 
• However, more than two-thirds of teachers say that student use of AI has created new challenges, with 71 percent of all teachers reporting that it has created an additional burden on them to determine whether a student’s work is their own.

Parents expressed more concern about teachers' use of AI. Half of parents question whether teachers who use AI are doing their jobs, and 72 percent of parents believe they should be able to opt their children out of AI tools used in class. 

Students, while overwhelmingly using AI themselves, report feeling disconnected from teachers who use AI tools. This sentiment increases among students whose schools or teachers use AI for many reasons.

• Fifty percent of students agree that using AI in class makes them feel less connected to their teacher.
• Thirty-eight percent of all students say they would rather work with AI than a teacher when they don’t understand something. 
• Fifty-two percent of students whose schools use AI for many reasons would rather work with AI than a teacher. 

However, amid emerging reports that AI can harm critical thinking skills, 71 percent of teachers, 64 percent of students, and 72 percent of parents worry that using AI weakens key skill sets. 

Conclusion

The findings from Hand in Hand reveal that AI is becoming an increasingly common part of the classroom experience. Strikingly, this rapid adoption has outpaced the training, policies, and safeguards needed to ensure safe and effective use of AI. Moving forward, more research on the impact of AI in education, as well as an increased focus on AI literacy for teachers, parents, and students, will help to ensure that the positive uses of AI are not overshadowed by potential harm to students. 

Zoë Walker is a Writing Associate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.

Kevin Taglang
Executive Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Institute
for Broadband & Society
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