Over 70% of Japan highschoolers use AI, mostly as study assistant: survey

TOKYO – A total of 73.7 percent of Japanese high school students are using conversational artificial intelligence, with the most common purpose being to serve as study assistant and collect information, a survey showed.

According to the Gakken Research Institute for Learning and Education survey, 36.6 percent of elementary school students and 43.2 percent of junior high school students are also utilizing AI, for the same aims.

The institute conducted an online survey in November 2025, and a total of 2,400 students — 100 boys and 100 girls from each grade level ranging from first grade in elementary school to third grade in high school — responded. The survey asked the students about the use of generative AI such as Chat GPT, with multiple answers allowed.

Among high schoolers using conversational AI, 42.3 percent said they use it “to help with studying and homework” and 26.0 percent chose “to find information.” Among junior high students, 17.8 percent use it to find information and 17.7 percent to help with studying and homework.

Regarding elementary school students’ use, 44.0 percent said they utilized it to find information, 32.6 percent to help with studying and homework and 23.7 percent “to create illustrations and images”.

The survey also asked students how their own thinking ability has changed after using generative AI.

The most common response was “feeling no particular change,” with 42.1 percent of elementary school students, 49.8 percent of junior high school students, and 42.1 percent of high school students giving that answer.

But more elementary and junior high school students responded that their ability has “become stronger” than those who answered it has “become weaker.” In contrast, more high school students responded that it has become weaker than stronger.

Commenting on the survey results, Hiroyuki Masukawa, a professor of cognitive science at Aoyama Gakuin University, said the public should consider whether using AI helps students’ learning.

“It is essential to foster AI literacy and make sure that children can use the technology as an assistant to help improve their thinking ability,” he said.