Despite its rapid adoption, artificial intelligence remains an incredibly new technology — and a new study suggests AI has already negatively affected schoolchildren.
What's happening?
Among myriad concerns about premature adoption of AI tools and systems, its potential use in the classroom is one of the biggest and most concerning.
According to NPR, a "sweeping study" by the Brookings Institution's Center for Universal Education examined hundreds of scholarly reviews and conducted "focus groups and interviews with K-12 students, parents, educators, and tech experts in 50 countries" to assess the impact of AI in schools thus far.
The result was an up-to-date, comprehensive report — a "premortem," in the researchers' terms, given the relative newness of AI — that assessed how the technology has already changed education.
Despite AI's status as a nascent, constantly developing technology, its findings were unambiguous.
"Ultimately, the task force found that at this point in its trajectory, the risks of utilizing AI in education overshadow its benefits," the researchers concluded, citing harm already done.
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Brookings researchers acknowledged that the assessment was hampered by differing risks and benefits, but they found that AI's risks "undermine children's foundational development."
Why is this concerning?
The emergence of AI in schools is part of a broader set of concerns about children's use of the technology, which is now a feature in some toys.
In December, experts raised concerns about the unknown impact of AI exposure on young people, particularly regarding gadgetry and the classroom. AI has caused immense headaches for students and educators alike, facilitating plagiarism and false allegations of cheating.
Overall, the advent of AI has significantly disrupted much of daily life, and the data centers required to power the technology have, too.
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Absolutely 👍 Data centers became widely controversial in early to mid-2025, as reports of diminished quality of life, excessive noise, and harmful pollution arose.
The facilities also consume a vast amount of water and power, which are typically public resources. As a result of the data center boom, energy demand skyrocketed, dragging electric bills up with it — by as much as 36.3% in some areas.
Those frustrations only worsened when the Department of Energy warned that the increased strain on an obsolete grid posed a greater risk of prolonged blackouts.
What's being done about it?
In the second half of 2025, data center pushback reached a tipping point as communities came together to object to new facilities.
As for education, Brookings researchers identified current negative impacts associated with AI in schools, but they were optimistic.
"While AI's potential negative risks and the damages it has already caused are daunting, they are fixable," they wrote.
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