About a quarter of Canadian kids and teens are using AI tech on a monthly basis, according to a MTM’s most recent report.

The study, which explores the media consumption behaviours of two- to 17-year-olds, is comprised of 2,046 surveys with Canadian households and 2,922 surveys with children.

MTM found that three out of four kids (72%) are aware of AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT, and 25% use them monthly. Their use is similar regardless of gender and household income. Twenty-four percent of boys use AI tools, as do 25% of girls. Households with annual incomes of up to $100,000 use AI-based tools at 24%, while those with incomes above $150,000 do so at 27%.

However, some think that using AI for homework is the same as cheating, especially girls (61%) and those from households with the highest annual income (63%).

The report also showed that kids and teens are interested in digital currencies such as V-Bucks, Robux and Minecoins, which give them access to extra content in games. According to MTM, 80% of respondents say they had invested in some form of in-game currency. Fortnite players are the ones who buy the most, followed by Roblox and Minecraft users.

Video games remain quite significant to this population, with 79% having played in the last month. Smartphones and tablets are the most used devices for gaming (55%), followed by consoles (44%), laptops (25%) and a smart TV app (5%).

And what about social media? MTM discovered that kids age 12 to 17 spend 10 hours per week on social networks, which is more than they spend playing video games (eight hours), connected to an SVOD (eight hours), and on YouTube (seven hours).

TikTok is the most popular social network, with more than half of seven- to 17-year-olds saying they have used it in the past month. Almost half (48%) say they use Snapchat, while 42% prefer Instagram. Facebook (36%) and Messenger Kids (23%) are the least used platforms in the top five.

When it comes to video on social media, over 34% of respondents age 12 to 17 indicated they use Instagram and TikTok to follow influencers. Twenty-two percent use it to find new music, while 21% love prank and challenge content. Videos from content creators (34%), games (27%) and music (27%) are among the top categories of content teens enjoy watching on YouTube.

MTM also surveyed Canadian parents on their kids’ online safety. Nine out of 10 take steps to protect their children on social media – 74% say they talk to them about how to stay safe online, while 48% set parental controls. Another 44% change the privacy settings of their kids’ profiles on social networks.

Sixty-four percent reported using more than one way to increase the safety, and the methods differed based on their children’s ages. They are more likely to discuss online safety with their teenage children than with their seven- to 11-year-olds. Parents of girls are more likely to discuss Internet safety, implement parental controls, and utilize two-factor authentication.