Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming part of students’ everyday schoolwork before many families have established clear rules around how it should be used.
Three-quarters of surveyed Australian parents said their school-aged children use general AI tools for schoolwork, study help or research. Yet only 42% said they regularly review or discuss that use with them.
That gap is becoming increasingly relevant for schools, which are being asked to set expectations around AI use while students develop habits beyond the classroom. Australia’s Framework for Generative AI in Schools already identifies teaching, privacy, safety and accountability as core principles for schools using the technology.
AI use is starting before secondary school
The TrendLife study surveyed 1,030 Australian parents who regularly use general-purpose AI and have at least one school-aged child who also uses it.
That means the findings reflect families already engaged with AI, rather than Australian households more broadly. Even within that group, the age at which children are using AI stands out.
Fifty-two per cent of parents said teenagers in their household regularly use AI, while 32% reported regular use among children aged five to 12.
That suggests many students are encountering tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude before schools formally introduce expectations around responsible use.
Schools are also increasing their own engagement with the technology. The Educator has previously reported on the growing use of AI in Australian classrooms, including its use for planning, teaching and student support.
As home and classroom use expand at the same time, schools may increasingly need to address habits students have already developed outside formal learning environments.
Confidence does not always translate into oversight
Most parents in the study believed their families were keeping up with AI. Ninety-two per cent said their household understands or uses AI at the same level as, or better than, other families. Another 82% felt at least moderately confident they could protect their children from cybersecurity and safety risks linked to AI.
However, that confidence was not always matched by direct supervision. Only 42% said they review or discuss their children’s AI use, while 38% were concerned about how either their children or an older relative was using the technology.
Parents were most concerned about privacy and security. Fifty-eight per cent ranked protection of family data among their three biggest concerns, followed by AI accuracy at 47%.
Another 45% were concerned that family members could rely too heavily on AI instead of forming their own judgement.
Those concerns overlap with wider guidance on children’s use of artificial intelligence. UNICEF’s guidance on AI and children identifies safety, data protection and AI literacy as key areas requiring attention.
Younger parents are adopting AI fastest
The strongest adoption was reported among parents aged 25 to 34, but this group also expressed greater concern about keeping pace with the technology. Sixty-two per cent already pay for an AI tool, compared with 46% across the overall sample. Almost half at 49% also said they welcomed AI taking a greater role in family life.
At the same time, 41% said they were very or extremely concerned about being left behind if they did not continue developing their AI use.
Helping children learn or build new skills was the top AI priority for 40% of parents in this age group, suggesting the technology is increasingly viewed as part of children’s future capabilities.
“AI has moved into family life faster than the conversations that should go with it. These are parents who already use AI themselves and have children who use it too, yet they are more confident than their level of oversight would suggest. Confidence is not the same as active oversight when children are using AI,” Lynette Owens, Vice President of Consumer Education at TrendLife, said.
“What stands out is that the parents leading adoption are also the ones most worried about falling behind. Interestingly, dads are paying more, upgrading more, and both parents are pushing their kids to build AI skills early. There are real concerns about privacy and over-reliance but these concerns reinforce the need for AI tools that build privacy, safety and oversight into family life, so confidence is matched by informed use.”
The Educator has also examined the gap between AI adoption and formal school strategy, as schools work out how to use the technology without displacing core learning.