Nearly 1 in 4 Hong Kong students can’t finish homework without AI, study shows

Hong Kong’s leading think tank has called for a centralised platform for artificial intelligence in schools, revealing that while 95 per cent of students use the technology, nearly one in four struggle to finish homework without it, putting their problem-solving and analytical thinking skills at risk.\nOur Hong Kong Foundation on Tuesday also said a more comprehensive AI curriculum should be formulated to cover students at all academic levels.\nThe think tank surveyed 1,200 primary and secondary teachers and students from July to December last year.\nIt found 91 per cent of teachers and 95 per cent of students used AI tools in teaching and learning.\nMost relied on internationally open-source apps such as Poe, DeepSeek and Doubao, with only 3 per cent of teachers and 7 per cent of students using those developed by their own institutions.\nBut the AI survey raised alarm bells: around 23 per cent of the surveyed students struggled to complete homework without AI, while 16 per cent admitted inputting personal data into the tools.\nMeanwhile, 71 per cent of teachers worried about AI’s toll on students’ problem-solving skills, and 63 per cent felt it threatened critical thinking skills.\n“Students can use AI now, but are they doing so correctly and securely?” said Kynita Wong Tang-ki, a researcher at the foundation.\nShe said it was vital to enhance AI literacy, so that students “can maintain the capabilities of independent thinking and judgment when they use the technology”.\nIn 2023, authorities launched an AI curriculum for junior secondary students, covering its basics as well as ethical and social implications.\nAn enriched module on coding for primary schools was also rolled out to cover algorithmic thinking.\nWhile acknowledging their value, Victor Kwok Hoi-kit, deputy research director of the think tank, said the courses fell short on guiding students on the proper use of AI.\n“We do not have a systematic curriculum to say what aspects of AI one should learn [at different academic levels],” he said.\n“It is the responsibility of the Education Bureau [to determine] how to build a solid foundation step by step, and what competencies students should master at each stage,” he added.\n\nThe think tank said Hong Kong lacked a central AI education resource platform, with efforts to integrate the technology into teaching and learning being made individually by schools.\nThis has resulted in redundant purchases, subscriptions and the development of similar AI teaching tools across various institutions.\nKwok cited an example of teachers using AI to generate exercises for students, noting that this process typically requires them to upload their curricula and textbooks to the apps.\n“But there is only one [Diploma for Secondary Education] curriculum and the tool does not need to study it 500 times,” he said, pointing out that different teachers may have uploaded the same set of data to these platforms.\nHe urged the government to take the initiative and establish a centralised AI resource platform for all schools.\n“A centralised tool can reduce repetitive efforts among schools and on the other hand, promote resource sharing,” he said, adding that such a platform would enable schools with fewer resources to access AI tools, setting a “minimum standard” for them.\nAsked if Hong Kong would face any difficulties in developing such a platform given that some mainstream apps, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, are not available locally, Kwok Kwok noted that the city had a wealth of resources through access to tools from mainland Chinese companies and alternative methods such as mirror site Poe.\n“It is important for schools, students and society to embrace the diversity of tools that we have,” he said.\n