Study: users aged 9 to 18 are ditching Google for AI, with unknown consequences

School researchers have analysed 173 international research articles on how generative artificial intelligence affects children's and young people's ability to learn and think. Its conclusion is twofold: the technology in itself makes thinking neither better nor worse, but very little is known about its effect on the youngest pupils.

The dual nature of AI

The review set out to determine whether AI tools strengthen or weaken pupils' critical thinking and independent problem solving. "The most important finding is that AI in and of itself does not make us any better or worse at thinking. It is easy to believe that the tools will either strengthen or weaken learning. We found a clear dual effect — the same technology can do both," says Hilde Storrøsæter, PhD research fellow at NTNU's Department of Teacher Education, who carried out the work with colleagues from Czech universities.

AI supports important skills when it is used to challenge, ask questions, compare different viewpoints and build one's own line of reasoning. But when it becomes a shortcut to a ready-made answer, the risk of overdependence, more superficial thinking and weakened independent problem solving increases.

Young users are leaving Google

The Norwegian Media Authority's survey of media habits among 9 to 18-year-olds shows that the use of Google searches in this age group fell from 72% in 2024 to 47% in 2026, while 39% of Norwegian 11 and 12-year-olds use AI. Visits to ung.no, Norway's information channel for 13 to 20-year-olds, dropped from 24 million to 18 million between 2024 and 2025.

Three gaps in what we know

The review, covering research published from 2022 up to the spring of 2025, uncovered three problems. In 80% of the analysed studies the participants were university or college students. Most articles rely on self-reporting, a less reliable method than objectively measuring change over time. The research is also geographically skewed: South, Southeast and East Asia — primarily China — dominate with 28 studies, Spain and the United Kingdom lead in Europe with nine each, the United States accounts for 15, and Africa, South America and Central Asia are seriously underrepresented.

Overall, the findings lean positive: of 139 studies on critical thinking, 67 reported only positive effects and 33 only negative ones.

A dual task for teacher education

According to Storrøsæter, teacher education must train teachers to relate critically to AI themselves and to pass that skill on to pupils; uncritical use only widens the gap between those who treat AI as a tool and those who use it merely to finish a task faster. "The education sector is already strongly influenced and shaped by AI. The question is whether we can shape the use of AI so that it supports students' thinking instead of taking it over," she says.