Parents of children under 18 are more likely to say parents should let their children use AI tools

Two new surveys from YouGov about artificial intelligence (AI) and its usage explored how parents feel about AI’s impact on modern parenting. Many parents and guardians of children under 18 think it’s a good idea for parents to turn to AI tools, and many think it’s a good idea for parents to allow their children to use the tools, as well. In general, parents are more open than people who are not parents to embracing AI in parenting and in other aspects of life.

22% of Americans — including 37% of parents with children under 18 — say that it’s a good idea for parents to ask AI tools for advice on parenting. 50% of Americans think it’s a bad idea to do so. Among parents, 40% say it’s a bad idea; among other adults, 52% say this.

Fathers of children under 18 are more likely than mothers of children under 18 to say it’s a good idea for parents to ask AI tools for advice on parenting (42% vs. 32%). 40% of fathers and 40% of mothers think it’s a bad idea; 19% of fathers and 28% of mothers are unsure.

25% of Americans — including 39% of parents with children under 18 — say they have used AI to get advice on a personal matter. Among parents of children under 18, 50% have used AI to get health advice and 34% have used it to help with homework.

21% of Americans believe AI will have an entirely negative effect on parenting. 26% think it will have more of a negative effect than a positive one; 22% think the impact of AI will be equally positive and negative. Few Americans say the impact of AI on parenting will be more positive than negative (7%) or entirely positive (2%).

Parents of children under 18 are more likely than other adults to say AI will have an entirely positive or more positive than negative effect on parenting (17% vs. 8%).

Fathers are twice as likely as mothers to think AI will generally have more of a positive than negative impact on parenting (24% vs. 12%).

Most Americans (55%) say it is a bad idea for parents to let their children use AI tools. 42% of parents with children under 18 and 58% of other adults say this. Fewer Americans (16%) say it is a good idea for parents to let their children use AI tools. 30% of parents with children under 18 and 13% of other adults say this.

Among parents with children under 18, fathers are more likely than mothers to say it’s a good idea for parents to let their children use AI tools (37% vs. 24%). 42% of fathers and 43% of mothers say it’s a bad idea.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say it’s a good idea for parents to let their children use AI tools (23% vs. 16%). Much larger shares of both Republicans (53%) and Democrats (57%) say this is a bad idea.

21% of Americans think AI will improve the education that children born this year will receive throughout their childhood, including 8% who think AI will improve it a lot. About half (51%) think AI will worsen the education that today’s children receive, including one-third (35%) who think AI will worsen this a lot.

Views of AI in education are more positive among parents of children under 18: 30% think AI will improve the education that children born this year will receive. 37% think AI will worsen it, including 24% who think it will worsen it a lot.

Parents of children under 18 are more likely than other adults to say they feel curious (39% vs. 29%), hopeful (34% vs. 21%), and excited (28% vs. 13%) about advances in AI.

Americans who are parents to children under 18 are more likely than people who are not to say they have a great deal of trust in AI to provide accurate information (21% vs. 8%). They’re also more likely to have a great deal of trust in AI’s ability to make unbiased decisions (17% vs. 6%), create original ideas (15% vs. 9%), and make ethical decisions (12% vs. 4%).

31% of Americans believe the effects of AI on their own life will be very or somewhat positive. Parents of children under 18 are more likely than other adults to say this (44% vs. 27%).

Related:

• Americans are increasingly concerned about AI exacerbating mental health problems
• Americans are increasingly likely to say AI will negatively affect society
• Many Americans think AI companies should be able to limit how the U.S. military uses their tools
• Most Americans say AI will reduce the number of jobs in the U.S.

See the results for the March 31 - April 2, 2026 YouGov survey and the April 1 - 5, 2026 YouGov survey.

— Carl Bialik contributed to this article

Methodology: This article includes results from two 2026 online surveys conducted among 1,099 U.S. adult citizens on March 31 - April 2 and among 1,082 U.S. adult citizens on April 1 - 5. The following methodological description is true for each survey. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4 percentage points.

Image: Getty (Krongkaew)