AI to Influence Teenagers’ Mental Health, Educational Future

AI is transforming the landscape for teens, influencing not only their mental well-being, but also the foundations of higher education. Recent analyses reveal a complex and nuanced relationship between technology use and adolescent mental health, while the emergence of sophisticated AI tools like ChatGPT is prompting a critical re-evaluation of academic practices and the very purpose of learning.

"The rise of digital platforms has profoundly affected young minds," writes Molly Fischer, Reporter, The New Yorker. The Pew Research Center's "Teens, Social Media and Technology 2024" report reveals that 46% of teens go online "almost constantly."

Jonathan Haidt, Social Psychologist, New York University, suggests that between 2010 and 2015 there was a generational "rewiring" from a "game-based" to a "phone-based" childhood. This shift, coupled with increased parental concern for physical safety and insufficient digital regulation, is posited as a key factor in the decline in mental health.

"After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures," reads the book's free web portal.

Although the direct cause is still under investigation, the widespread societal concern is evident. The study Social Media And Youth Mental Health, published by the US Surgeon General’s Advisory in 2024, noted that nearly 70% of parents find parenting more difficult than it was twenty years ago, citing technology and social media as the main culprits.

AI Reshaping Learning and Integrity

Although reliable global figures on student use of AI are not available, regional data reveals that 89% of Spanish students make use of it, according to the recent CYD Foundation study Use and Perception of AI in the University Environment. A Pew Research study reports that a quarter of teenagers aged 13 to 17 used ChatGPT for their schoolwork, twice as many as in 2023.

Students openly admitted to employing AI for "any kind of writing," leveraging multiple platforms for different needs, according to Hua Hsu, Reporter, The New Yorker. This dependence often stems from a desire to do "as little work as possible," seeing AI as simply another "productivity tool," much like Google or Grammarly. This attitude, according to Hsu, has led to "even greater panic" among educators, who are faced with the question of how to evaluate original work and ensure academic honesty. 

While some universities are requiring time-stamped paper histories or face-to-face assignments in hopes to fight the widespread use of AI, others have opted for "hopeful resignation," exploring pedagogical applications of AI. OpenAI, for example, is actively collaborating with universities, such as Oxford University, Arizona State University, and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, to integrate AI into curricula, even offering "personalized" AI accounts to students and professors, the latter primarily to deliver appropriate education on this technology.

"California State University (CSU) announces a public-private initiative with some of the world's leading technology companies, including Alphabet, Amazon Web Services, IBM, LinkedIn, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAI, and the California Governor's Office, that will harness the power of AI to create an AI-powered higher education system that could surpass any existing model in both scale and impact," CSU reported February 2025. "Unprecedented adoption of AI technologies will be available across the CSU's 23 universities, ensuring that the system's more than 460,000 students and 63,000 faculty and staff have equitable access to cutting-edge tools."

For humanities and writing departments at multiple institutions, however, the challenge is especially acute, raising fundamental questions about the future of writing instruction. For example, Corey Robin, Professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College, has resorted to face-to-face pencil-and-paper testing and passage identification to ensure true student comprehension. The Institute of Nutrition and Health Sciences of Madrid even suggest that the "bodily experience" of writing by hand affects parts of the brain other than typing, pointing to deeper cognitive engagement and "boosting brain connectivity."

Hsu highlights the growing concern about the "disassociation" of students with their work, as the emphasis shifts from genuine learning to merely meeting requirements. This reflects concern that technology may interfere with emotional attachments and contribute to a sense of disconnection in the adolescent mental health debate.

Ultimately, Fischer and Hsu emphasize the critical need for a collaborative, multidimensional approach that spans the following fronts:

• Educational institutions: They must adapt curricula and support structures to encourage healthy use of technology and reevaluate pedagogical methods in light of AI capabilities, prioritizing deep learning and critical thinking over mere task completion.

• Technology developers: They face increasing scrutiny to design platforms that prioritize user well-being and responsible use, rather than solely efficiency and engagement metrics.

• Policymakers: They are beginning to introduce legislation aimed at regulating minors' access to social networks and how platforms interact with younger users, although their long-term effectiveness requires ongoing evaluation.

• Families: They need evidence-based interventions to engage with technology constructively, promoting responsible use without imposing counterproductive restrictions.