A person uses ChatGPT on a laptop. Frank Rumpenhorst/picture alliance via Getty Images
By Pete Syme
Source: www.businessinsider.com, October 2023
- 40% of teenagers have used ChatGPT in the last six months, according to a Piper Sandler report.
- ChatGPT saw its traffic decline three months in a row until August, with summer break a possible cause.
- Some schools have banned the use of ChatGPT over concerns it could be used to cheat.
Just two in five teenagers have used ChatGPT in the last six months, according to a survey from Piper Sandler.
The financial and research firm releases two reports each year that gauge young people’s habits, titled “Taking Stock With Teens.” The Fall 2023 report surveyed 9,193 American teenagers with an average age of 15.7.
On ChatGPT usage, it also pointed out a gender imbalance: 68% of the teens who have used OpenAI’s chatbot are male.
Piper Sandler’s data showed that ChatGPT’s popularity had increased since its previous report in the spring. It found then that only 24% of the teens surveyed had used ChatGPT, of which almost three-quarters were male.
The report comes as August marked the third month in a row that ChatGPT’s traffic declined, per data from Similarweb, suggesting it’s losing some of its hype.
A senior insights manager at Similarweb said that this decline could be linked to schools being out for summer.
Fears that the AI tool could be used to hand in plagiarized work has seen some schools and universities ban ChatGPT. But some, like Northwestern, said they were turning off AI detection software because it could falsely accuse students of cheating.
Some educational institutions like a $162,500-a-year Swiss boarding school have encouraged students to learn how to use AI ethically.
