Date
Publisher
arXiv
K-12 students increasingly form relationships with AI companions. Schools face growing expectations to teach AI literacy, yet existing frameworks treat AI as a tool rather than a relationship, and little is known about how teachers understand and act on students' relational use of AI. We conducted scenario-based interviews with 33 US K-12 teachers. Teachers welcomed academic companions but worried that intimate companions remove the developmental friction through which students learn to sustain human relationships. Teachers drew the boundaries of their jurisdiction by setting and observable wellbeing: within it they taught, talked, and watched; beyond it they positioned themselves as the adults best placed to notice and connect students with support. They envisioned AI companion literacy as shared work across the jurisdictions of counselors, parents, platforms, and policymakers, spiraling across grade levels. We introduce AI companion literacy as an extension of AI literacy and discuss implications for K-12 AI education.
Study at a glance
- Question: How do K-12 teachers perceive, intervene in, and share responsibility for students' relationships with AI companions?
- Setting and data: 33 K-12 teachers in public, private, and charter schools across four US census regions, recruited via Prolific.
- Method: Scenario-based semi-structured interviews analyzed with reflexive thematic analysis.
Why it matters
Students increasingly form emotional relationships with AI companions, yet existing school frameworks treat AI only as a tool, leaving unclear how teachers understand, manage, and navigate boundaries around these relational dynamics.
Key findings
- Most teachers found AI tutors and study buddies acceptable, while intimate roles like romantic partners, friends, or parents raised concerns about eliminating developmental friction.
- Teachers decided whether to intervene based on visibility at school and observable wellbeing rather than perceived harm, reserving action for academic issues or mandated reporting thresholds.
- Teachers envisioned AI companion literacy as an age-appropriate curriculum shared across parents, counselors, platforms, and policymakers, though they disagreed on which grade level should own it.
Summary drafted with AI from the full paper and may contain errors. See the full paper for details.
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