67% of Students Say AI Harms Critical Thinking, Yet More Use It for Homework

A December 2025 RAND Corporation survey of 1,214 students aged 12 to 29 found that 67 percent believe increased AI use damages critical thinking skills, up more than ten percentage points in ten months. Despite this concern, homework AI usage rose from 48 percent to 62 percent in just seven months, with middle schoolers jumping from 30 to 46 percent and high schoolers from 49 to 60 percent. Female students expressed greater concern than males, at 75 percent versus 59 percent. Analysts suggest students are not simply contradicting themselves but are responding rationally to a grade-driven system where opting out of AI puts them at a competitive disadvantage. A separate November 2025 survey by the American Association of Colleges and Universities found that 95 percent of faculty feared AI would increase student overreliance, and 90 percent believed it would weaken critical thinking.