What are we teaching young people about AI?

Findings from the AIwareness project show a clear imbalance in how AI-related topics are addressed by educators and youth workers. While data privacy is the most commonly covered topic (58.3%), and recognising misinformation is discussed with nearly half of young people (48.3%), the ethical use of AI is rarely addressed.

Only 1.7% of educators and youth workers reported discussing ethical AI use with young people. This means crucial questions—such as fairness, bias, responsibility, and the impact of AI on society—are largely missing from current educational practices.

These results highlight an important gap: young people are learning how to use digital and AI tools, but not how to use them responsibly. The AIwareness project underlines the urgent need to better integrate ethical considerations into AI education, so youth can become not only skilled users, but also critical and responsible digital citizens.