Today's students will be the first generation to grow up with artificial intelligence integrated into their everyday lives. The question is no longer whether they will use AI, but whether they will learn to evaluate its answers, recognize its limitations, and use it responsibly.
OpenAI and CodeAI announced a partnership to bring educational tools and resources closer to students and teachers. The goal is to close an increasingly visible gap: many young people already use AI, but they do not necessarily understand how it works or how to spot its mistakes.
Students use AI, but they need to understand it
According to data cited by OpenAI, most students already use artificial intelligence tools. However, only 16% of secondary school leaders say that all their students are learning the technical knowledge they need to understand it in the classroom.
Students themselves recognize this gap. A CodeAI survey indicates that 75% of secondary school students believe understanding AI will be more important to their future than it is today.
What's the problem? Knowing how to write a prompt for a tool is not the same as understanding its answers. A student might receive a convincing explanation and still fail to notice that it contains incorrect data, a biased conclusion, or made-up information.
AI literacy is not just about learning how to use a tool. It also means knowing how to question it.
ChatGPT for teens and responsible learning
The partnership coincides with the launch of ChatGPT for teens, an experience designed with learning as a priority. OpenAI says it will include specific protections for young people, features aimed at promoting healthy use, and additional controls for parents.
The proposal aims to ensure that teens do not limit themselves to asking for answers. It also seeks to help them explore topics in greater depth, think critically, and use AI with more confidence, without automatically accepting everything it produces.
This effort builds on OpenAI's work with ChatGPT for teachers and its collaboration with the American Federation of Teachers to develop artificial intelligence skills across the education sector.
What the OpenAI and CodeAI partnership includes
Over the next year, both organizations will develop several programs for students, teachers, and educational communities.
- Joint advisory council: It will bring together specialists in child development, youth public policy, and learning sciences. Its role will be to provide guidance on emerging risks, responsible practices, and educational needs.
- Hour of AI: It will introduce millions of students to the fundamentals of using artificial intelligence carefully and responsibly.
- Builders Challenge: It will allow secondary school students to create AI projects, receive mentorship from OpenAI members, and present their work on a national stage alongside the teachers who support them.
- Classroom support: OpenAI specialists in AI systems, safety, and responsible use will advise on the development of AI Foundations, a free, year-long course created by CodeAI for secondary school students.
- Career Journeys: It will connect young people with OpenAI researchers, engineers, and leaders so they can learn how they work with AI and imagine themselves as future creators, professionals, and innovators.
From consumers to creators
One of the most interesting aspects of the initiative is that it does not present young people solely as technology users. The intention is for them to also understand how these systems are built, identify their flaws, and take part in creating new solutions.
That change in perspective matters. AI should not be a black box that delivers magical answers, but a tool students can direct, review, and use with good judgment. For example, someone might ask a system to explain a biology concept, but they should also compare the information with their class materials and ask what evidence supports the answer.
Education cannot depend on companies alone
OpenAI and CodeAI recognize that preparing young people for a world shaped by AI is a shared responsibility. Technology companies cannot do it alone: families, teachers, researchers, policymakers, and civil society organizations all have a role to play.
Technology can support learning, but it does not replace a teacher's guidance, conversations with family, or support from other trusted adults. That distinction will be especially important as AI tools continue to evolve.
The real goal is not to train students to accept every answer generated by a machine. It is to help them ask better questions, recognize when they need to verify information, and decide when it is better not to rely on the tool.
If this partnership manages to move in that direction, young people will not only be better prepared to use artificial intelligence. They will also be able to influence how it develops and the role it will play in society.