AI: Is It Good or Bad For Modern Day Teens?

I’m sure everyone knows what AI is. It’s a tool that has advanced so much that it seems to be fooling people (including myself) online. Many people think it’s beneficial for society, since it helps with tasks and makes tasks even more efficient. But I think we should focus on the effect it has on modern day teens, whose brains are still developing. 

“What Can AI Really Do?”

Anyone who goes to MS158 has had a lesson on the harms of AI before. Whether your parents told you, or your computer science teacher let your class know, we all have learned that it has a negative influence on our brains. The truth is, not many people understand just how powerful AI is. We are in a period of our life where the mechanics of our brain dramatically alter so that we are ready for the real world. According to “Kids are offloading their critical thinking to AI chatbots—here’s how to protect them, experts say” by CNBC, thinking for yourself is essential. A  2025 study from researchers at MIT's Media Lab had 54 participants write an essay. There were three groups: one could use an AI chatbot, another could use a search engine, and a third group had to use their knowledge only. The paper showed that brain connectivity "systematically scaled down with the amount of external support”. "The brain‑only group exhibited the strongest, widest‑ranging networks, the search engine group showed intermediate engagement, and LLM assistance elicited the weakest overall [neural] coupling.” This shows that AI decreases neural coupling (ability to make connections), while working with your own knowledge helps you gain information and works out your brain. As teens, since our brain is a muscle, we have to use it and allow these connections to happen. AI can feel like a cheat code, but overusing it can stunt your growth–for the worse.

Is There A Way To Use AI Safely?

After reading, you might think you shouldn’t incorporate AI into your life at all. But that’s far from the truth. In a world where AI is advancing with new tools like Atlas (go check out Grayson Goldberg’s article all about it!), we can’t be uneducated about it. In the future, I’m sure it’ll become more popular in everyday jobs as well. Your coworkers could very well be AI. Knowing this, we, as teenagers and therefore the future of humanity, should know how to use AI in a way that benefits us instead of holding us back. Instead of using it for assignments, you can use it for asking questions while studying for a test (after you double-check your answers with a different source). For example, you might feel confused about something you learned. Something you can do in addition to asking questions to peers is ask AI to break down the main points. If in the future your teacher wants you to use AI responsibly for a project, use it for additional research, don’t solely rely on it. In conclusion, don’t let AI make decisions for you. Instead, let it be a secondary source of information. And remember, AI doesn’t have to be a negative idea. If you use it right, you can learn from it.