A new survey of 15,000 participants reveals that while digital adoption in education is high, students are largely ignoring specialized learning apps in favor of general platforms like YouTube and Google. Even more concerning for educators is a widespread misunderstanding of artificial intelligence: the majority of students and teachers believe generative AI is simply a search engine.
What Happened
According to the Bharat Survey for EdTech (BaSE) 2025, released by the Central Square Foundation, 63% of surveyed children and 87% of teachers use educational technology. However, the data shows that usage is heavily skewed toward general-purpose platforms rather than specialized learning tools. Only 6% of children use dedicated educational apps like Duolingo or ePathshala, while the vast majority rely on YouTube, WhatsApp, and Google.
Usage of Generative AI (GenAI) is growing, but literacy regarding the technology lags behind. While 50% of children and over 80% of teachers have heard of GenAI, a significant portion confuses it with traditional internet search. Two-thirds of children and roughly half of teachers mistakenly identified GenAI as a tool that simply retrieves facts from the internet, rather than a system that generates new content based on probability.
Gouri Gupta, a director at the foundation, noted that adoption is "preceding understanding." She explained that because most users are introduced to these tools organically by peers rather than through a structured curriculum, they lack a fundamental grasp of what the technology actually does.
The Bigger Picture
The Search Engine Misconception
The confusion between AI and search engines poses real risks for learning. According to a review of LLM-based search threats, traditional search engines index and retrieve existing web pages, whereas Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are "next-token predictors." They do not "know" facts; they predict the most likely next word in a sentence. This fundamental difference means AI can confidently hallucinate information—presenting falsehoods as facts—which is dangerous for students looking for homework help.
Formal vs. Informal Learning
The dominance of YouTube over specialized apps highlights a preference for informal learning. Research on cognitive development suggests that while informal tools spark curiosity, they lack the structured learning outcomes and evaluations provided by formal platforms. Specialized apps are designed with specific pedagogical goals, whereas general platforms rely on algorithms designed for engagement, not education.
Teacher Adoption Drivers
While student adoption of specialized tools is low, 45% of teachers reported using government-backed platforms like DIKSHA. This higher adoption rate is likely driven by policy rather than organic preference. Studies on India’s digital infrastructure indicate that government mandates and training programs have successfully integrated these tools into the professional workflow of millions of teachers, though infrastructure gaps remain a challenge in rural areas.
What This Means for Families
This gap in AI literacy suggests that children are using powerful tools without understanding their limitations. If a student believes ChatGPT is a search engine, they are likely to trust its output implicitly, bypassing the critical thinking required to verify sources. As we previously reported, experts have already raised concerns about data privacy with these tools; now, the concern extends to basic factual reliability.
Furthermore, the heavy reliance on YouTube suggests that parents need to be more active in curating their children's digital diet. While Google has introduced features to help parents manage screen time, as noted in our coverage of Google's 'School Time' updates, the quality of content remains a variable that algorithms alone cannot solve.
What You Can Do
- Demonstrate the difference: Sit down with your child and ask the same question to Google and a GenAI tool. Point out how Google provides sources, while the AI generates a paragraph that requires fact-checking.
- Verify AI outputs: Teach children that AI can "hallucinate." Encourage them to find a second source for any fact provided by a chatbot.
- Balance the app diet: If your child relies solely on YouTube for learning, introduce one specialized app (like Duolingo or Khan Academy) that offers structured progress and feedback.