STUDY: 90 Percent of Students Use AI for Academic Purposes

Copyleaks’ 2025 AI in Education Report highlights rapid student adoption of AI tools

Copyleaks, the leader in content authentication, AI detection, and GenAI governance platform, announced the release of Part I of its 2025 AI in Education Trends Report, a comprehensive examination of the use of AI in education. Surveying more than 1,000 students across the United States, the research explores how AI has become a normalized and growing part of the student learning experience.

The survey reveals that student AI usage is both widespread and accelerating, with 90% of students reporting using AI for academic purposes and nearly 1 in 3 (29%) using it daily. AI adoption continues to rise, with 73% reporting an increase in usage since last year.

“AI is no longer a novelty in the classroom; it’s now a mainstream part of the student experience,” said Alon Yamin, CEO and co-founder of Copyleaks. “From brainstorming and outlining to rewriting and editing, students are treating AI as a core study companion. This shift underscores the urgent need for educators to provide clear guidance on responsible use policies while preserving academic integrity.”

Also Read: AiThority Interview with Dr. Petar Tsankov, CEO and Co-Founder at LatticeFlow AI

Key findings from the report include:

• Mainstream Use: A complete 90% of students now use AI for academic purposes, and more than half (53%) say they use it regularly. Nearly 29% rely on AI tools daily for coursework, showing that these technologies are firmly embedded in everyday study habits rather than occasional assistance.
• Rising Adoption: AI usage is accelerating year over year, with nearly 3 in 4 (73%) students reporting an increase in their use of AI compared to the prior academic year. This upward trend reflects a growing comfort level and reliance on AI as an essential tool for learning.
• AI Usage Across the Workflow: Students use AI at multiple stages of the academic process, from brainstorming ideas (57%) and drafting outlines (50%) to generating initial drafts (44%), paraphrasing text (39%), and summarizing readings (35%). This demonstrates that AI is influencing how students approach both the creative and technical aspects of their work.
• Preferred Tools: While institutions often approve certain platforms, students overwhelmingly gravitate toward tools like ChatGPT (74%), Gemini (43%), Grammarly/GrammarlyGO (38%), Microsoft Copilot (29%), Claude (25%), and Perplexity (16%). Their choices showcase that students are balancing general-purpose AI tools with specialized tools depending on the task at hand.
• Motivations: Students report turning to AI primarily to save time (27%) and improve the quality of their work (24%), while others use it to generate new ideas (15%) and to better understand complex topics (13%). These motivations suggest that students view AI as both a productivity enhancer and a learning aid, rather than simply a shortcut.

“As student use of AI grows, the education system has a choice: resist the shift or harness it,” continued Yamin. “Our findings highlight the importance of teaching students how to use AI ethically so they can benefit from the tools while maintaining integrity in their work.”

Also Read: Developing Autonomous Security Agents Using Computer Vision and Generative AI