Four dated items define where AI in education stood in 2023: UNESCO's guidance on generative AI, published September 7, 2023; a U.S. Department of Education report on AI and the future of teaching and learning; Executive Order 14110, signed October 30, 2023; and a Pew Research Center survey in which 13 percent of U.S. teens said they had used ChatGPT for schoolwork. As of October 27, 2026, the executive order has been revoked and replaced by a different 2025 order on AI education, the UNESCO guidance is still posted, and Pew's later surveys found the teen figure had doubled in 2024 and reached 54 percent for chatbots in general in fall 2025.
Key takeaways
- UNESCO's September 7, 2023 guidance called for regulation of generative AI tools, data privacy protection, and an age limit for independent chats, without naming an age.
- Executive Order 14110 gave the Secretary of Education 365 days to develop AI resources and an "AI toolkit" for education leaders. A January 2025 order revoked it, and Executive Order 14277 of April 23, 2025 took up AI education under a new approach.
- Pew found that 19 percent of teens who had heard of ChatGPT in fall 2023 had used it for schoolwork, which equals 13 percent of all U.S. teens.
- Pew's share of all teens using ChatGPT for schoolwork was 26 percent in fall 2024. Its fall 2025 survey, published February 24, 2026, found 54 percent had used a chatbot for schoolwork, a broader question that cannot be compared directly.
UNESCO's guidance, September 7, 2023
Ten months after ChatGPT launched, UNESCO published its Guidance for generative AI in education and research, written by Fengchun Miao and Wayne Holmes. The text recommends regulating generative AI tools with a human-centered approach, mandating data privacy protection, and setting an age limit for independent conversations with chatbot platforms. It leaves the number of years to national authorities; the page does not state one.
The guidance observes that most countries have no national regulation, so user data goes unprotected, and that schools are largely unprepared to validate the tools they are offered. UNESCO's page was last updated on January 16, 2026, so the document is maintained rather than archived. It is a set of recommendations to governments, not a binding rule in Canada or the United States.
Executive Order 14110 and its education clause
President Biden signed Executive Order 14110, "Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence," on October 30, 2023, and it ran in the Federal Register on November 1, 2023. Section 8(d) told the Secretary of Education to develop resources, policies, and guidance on safe, responsible, and nondiscriminatory uses of AI in education within 365 days, including effects on vulnerable and underserved communities. It also asked for an "AI toolkit" for education leaders that would build on the department's report on AI and the future of teaching and learning. The toolkit was to cover human review of AI decisions and education-specific guardrails.
That clause no longer binds anyone. The January 2025 order "Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions" lists Executive Order 14110 among the orders it revokes. A 2023 article that cites the order as current policy is a stale source.
Its education successor is Executive Order 14277, "Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth," signed April 23, 2025. It directed the Secretary of Education to issue guidance within 90 days on using federal grant funds for AI-based instructional resources, high-impact tutoring, and college and career advising. On July 22, 2025, the Department of Education sent a Dear Colleague Letter to grantees that treats such uses as allowable under existing programs and lists five principles for responsible use, among them educator-led use and compliance with federal privacy law. The Department also proposed a supplemental grant priority on AI. Whether that priority has been finalized was not checked for this page.
What teens reported: two Pew surveys
Pew surveyed 1,453 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 between September 26 and October 23, 2023. Two-thirds had heard of ChatGPT. Among those, 19 percent had used it for schoolwork, which works out to 13 percent of all teens. Use rose with grade: about one-quarter of 11th and 12th graders who had heard of it, 17 percent in grades 9 and 10, and 12 percent in grades 7 and 8. Awareness itself varied by household income, from 41 percent under USD 30,000 to 75 percent at USD 75,000 or more.
A year later, from September 18 to October 10, 2024, Pew surveyed 1,391 teens and reported that 26 percent used ChatGPT for schoolwork, double the earlier share. The 2024 report also found higher use among Black and Hispanic teens (31 percent each) than White teens (22 percent), a gap that had not existed in 2023.
Pew's February 24, 2026 report, "How Teens Use and View AI," is based on 1,458 teens surveyed from September 25 to October 9, 2025. It asked about chatbots such as ChatGPT or Copilot, not ChatGPT alone, and 54 percent said they had used one for schoolwork. About one in 10 did all or most of their schoolwork with chatbot help, 44 percent did some or a little, and 45 percent did none. The change in wording means 54 percent should not be read as a doubling of the 26 percent figure.
Status check as of October 27, 2026
| Item | Date | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNESCO guidance | September 7, 2023 | International recommendations | Posted; page updated January 16, 2026 |
| Executive Order 14110, section 8(d) | October 30, 2023 | U.S. federal directive | Revoked in January 2025 |
| Pew teen survey | Fall 2023 | U.S. teens, 1,453 respondents | Superseded by later surveys |
| Pew teen survey | Fall 2024 | U.S. teens, 1,391 respondents | Superseded by the fall 2025 survey, which asks about chatbots in general |
| Executive Order 14277 | April 23, 2025 | U.S. federal directive on AI education | Issued after the revocation of 14110; Department of Education guidance followed on July 22, 2025 |
| Pew teen survey | Fall 2025 (published February 24, 2026) | U.S. teens, 1,458 respondents | Latest figure used on this page; 54 percent used chatbots for schoolwork |
Canadian provincial guidance from 2023 is not covered here, because none could be confirmed from a ministry source.
Checks before repeating a 2023 claim
- Is the figure from a survey of teens, teachers, or institutions, and in which country?
- Does the denominator include everyone, or only people who had heard of the tool?
- Has a newer edition of the same survey replaced the number?
- Is the policy cited a recommendation, a statute, or an executive order that a later order may have revoked?
- Does the source page show a last-updated date?
FAQ
Did UNESCO set a minimum age for using ChatGPT in school?
No. The guidance proposes setting an age limit for independent conversations with generative AI platforms and leaves the number to national authorities.
Is Executive Order 14110 still in force?
No. The January 2025 rescission order lists it among the orders revoked, so the 365-day education directive in section 8(d) is no longer a federal requirement.
Why do two Pew figures for 2023 differ, 19 percent and 13 percent?
The 19 percent counts only teens who had heard of ChatGPT. The 13 percent counts all U.S. teens, including the third who had not heard of it.
Can the 2023 and 2026 Pew figures be compared?
Only the 2023 and 2024 figures can, because both ask about ChatGPT. The fall 2025 survey asks about chatbots in general, so its 54 percent covers more tools.
Do these figures apply to Canadian students?
The Pew surveys cover U.S. teens only. UNESCO's guidance is addressed to governments worldwide, but it does not set binding rules for any province.
Related reading
- AI in education rules in 2026 across the US, Ontario, and British Columbia
- What two studies measured in higher education
- AI tools, rules, and evidence in special education
- A free syllabus for learning AI from scratch
More in AI and Society.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Guidance for generative AI in education and research, Miao F, Holmes W, UNESCO, September 7, 2023 (page updated January 16, 2026)
- Executive Order 14110, Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, Federal Register 88 FR 75191, November 1, 2023
- Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions, The White House, January 2025
- Executive Order 14277, Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth, Federal Register, April 28, 2025
- Guidance on using federal grant funds to improve education outcomes through AI, Dear Colleague Letter, U.S. Department of Education, July 22, 2025
- About 1 in 5 U.S. teens who've heard of ChatGPT have used it for schoolwork, Pew Research Center, November 16, 2023
- About a quarter of U.S. teens have used ChatGPT for schoolwork, double the share in 2023, Pew Research Center, January 15, 2025
- How Teens Use and View AI, Pew Research Center, February 24, 2026