Sydney, 18 March 2024 – Contrary to concerns about school students outsourcing their schoolwork entirely to AI, new research from Anyway in collaboration with Microsoft and KPMG reveals how school students are exploring AI for their education and which subjects are most popular to use the technology with.

The report, AI Amplified: What Gen Zs Think of AI, which surveyed 1048 15–24-year-olds nationally, has found that while 74% of school students say they have used generative AI tools for their education, only 1% say they prefer to use AI as much as possible for getting their schoolwork done. Instead, 16% say they prefer to do their own work and use AI about equally, while 57% say they try to do their work as much as possible themselves. The remaining 26% of school students say they have never used AI for their assignments and exam study.

When it comes to what tasks school students have performed with AI, 45% say they have used it to summarise information and text, followed by assignment research (44%), improving writing (41%), writing (36%), rewriting text (35%), exam study (34%), proofreading (34%), simplifying complex ideas (31%), creative ideas (28%), making notes (26%) and thought starters (22%).

More than 1 in 2 (55%) school students say they have used AI to help with their English studies, making it the most popular high school subject for which AI is used, ahead of second-placed mathematics for which about a fifth (19%) of school students say they use AI, followed by biology (17%), chemistry (15%) and business studies (10%) rounding out the top 5 most popular school subjects in which AI is used.

It comes as just 40% of school students say they have learnt about how to use AI at school, while 55% say they would like to see more AI-related activities and projects in schools.

Anyway Co-Founder Will Stubley said: "Our research has found school students are using AI to aid them rather than using the technology to do all their work entirely, which might come as a surprise to some who were concerned about a tide of AI generated assignments sweeping through classrooms. Students are saying that they’re actually using AI mainly to improve and get feedback on their writing, but they’re doing this with ideas they’ve already formulated and written themselves, which is a key distinction. They’re also using it to summarise information and text to save themselves time. AI we can see is mainly being used as the complementary tool it was intended to be, with students still putting a high value on the learning process.”

KPMG Australia Chief Digital Officer John Munnelly said: “AI is set to transform how we work, and Gen Z are those who are set to be the drivers of this change. Many Australian school students are already embracing AI but, contrary to what some may say, they are using it to complement their own work – to research, to perfect writing and to summarise information. Understanding how young people are engaging with AI is vital in how we shape AI education in schools, and ultimately will influence how AI is used in business. With over half of students hungry to see more AI projects and activities at school, it’s clear that there is a gap that must be met if Australia’s future generations are to be as AI savvy as their global peers.”

Microsoft General Manager, Corporate External and Legal Affairs, John Galligan said: “Generative AI is one of the most exciting fields of artificial intelligence and impactful forces shaping the education sector today. It has the potential to transform how we create, innovate, communicate, and collaborate across various domains and industries. This report shows students want to use generative AI more – from exploring how it can help them analyse and interrogate new concepts, to organising and manage their time and personal finances better, to how it can help them learn how to code. Many schools are now exploring test cases for generative AI in the classroom, allowing students to get hands on with the technology in safe and secure IT environments. In doing so, we’re helping students and teachers alike to see how they can best apply gen AI to augment learning experiences and enhance their digital skills.

The report’s comprehensive insights offer valuable guidance for policymakers, educators, and industry stakeholders aiming to nurture Australia's youth in an AI-driven world.

About the Research

Online survey of 1048 Australians aged 15-24.

Conducted in November 2023.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.

About KPMG International

KPMG is a global organisation of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. KPMG is the brand under which the member firms of KPMG International Limited (“KPMG International”) operate and provide professional services. “KPMG” is used to refer to individual member firms within the KPMG organisation or to one or more member firms collectively.

KPMG firms operate in 143 countries and territories with more than 273,000 partners and employees working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. Each KPMG member firm is responsible for its own obligations and liabilities.

KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients.

For more detail about our structure, please visit home.kpmg/governance

About Anyway

Founded in 2011, Anyway is a Gen Z Publisher and Ed-tech whose purpose is to support young people to live happier, healthier and more fulfilled lives, and whose mission is to upgrade the school-to-work transition. Anyway’s suite of brands includes Career Tools, Australia’s largest school to work transition platform, with over 1250+ subscribing schools. In 2023, Anyway acquired Good Education Group, including The Good Universities Guide, The Good Schools Guide and Studies in Australia, together with Australia’s most comprehensive database of schools, universities and training providers.