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The middle schoolers at Philly鈥檚 Marian Anderson Neighborhood Academy have a lot of questions about artificial intelligence.

They want to know how the government is using AI and what impact the technology has on the environment. They鈥檙e curious about how it鈥檚 being used for creativity, and whether it will be with us forever 鈥� or if it鈥檚 an economic bubble waiting to burst.

The sixth through eighth graders have been researching these topics and grappling with how it makes them feel about themselves, their education, and the world around them. On Friday, they presented their findings to their parents, teachers, and some state and local officials in their school cafeteria. Overall, they said there鈥檚 a lot they still don鈥檛 know.

Sixth grader Azizah Simmons said she鈥檚 weighed the pros and cons and she鈥檚 pretty confident that AI鈥檚 overall effect on our society is negative. If used correctly, Simmons said language models like ChatGPT could help kids her age improve their writing. More often than not, she said students use it to cheat on homework or cut corners on writing assignments.

But it鈥檚 the ubiquity of the technology that worries her most.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 really escape AI,鈥� Simmons said.

Conversations about AI have permeated every aspect of education since the arrival of models like ChatGPT. Familiar debates about cheating have given way to Marketing pitches from companies promising 鈥渢ransformative鈥� AI tools are now . In Philly, educators are working with students to build their own curriculum to and that can be embedded deep in the internal code.

And students say they feel like they have as much knowledge 鈥� or sometimes more 鈥� than the adults in their lives.

Sixth graders Thomas Mapp and Tyshaan Anderson鈥檚 research project focused on how video game designers use AI for level design, character creation, and visuals. Outside of school, they鈥檝e been using AI to help them code games in Roblox and edit videos.

Anderson said he thinks the technology has helped kids like him experiment with creative fields like game design without needing to know the ins and outs of specific coding languages.

Marian Anderson Principal Nicole Patterson said she鈥檚 been inspired by her students鈥� civic inquiries and has learned a lot from them.

Patterson said she sees her school as a trailblazer in leading challenging conversations about AI. But she cautioned that 鈥渢his is unfinished work.鈥� She said students will continue their research and keep talking about these issues.

Marian Anderson computer science and technology teacher Trey Smith said the goal of Friday鈥檚 event was to help students and parents discuss how AI is now part of society, culture, politics, and everyday life, not just about how AI works.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all still trying to figure this out together,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淔or students to be in dialogue, not just with themselves and each other and me, but also with their families and with legislators and with school district officials and professors 鈥� I think it鈥檚 so important for them to learn together.鈥�

That learning process can be tricky. Simmons said she ends up using AI involuntarily because search engines like Google now frontload AI overviews. That makes it difficult for young users to differentiate between what is a primary source link and what is AI generated.

鈥淵ou use it without meaning to. It鈥檚 everywhere implanted in our lives,鈥� Simmons said.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at .

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