Fewer than half of all German parents say they are “fairly confident” in using artificial intelligence (AI) platforms and able to explain how to use them to their offspring, according to a representative survey conducted by the Hamburg-based Körber Foundation.
Only 20% of those surveyed were very confident in using AI applications, with a further 48% “fairly confident” and 28% fairly or very uncertain, showed the study, which was published on Tuesday. At the same time, 55% would like to close this knowledge gap.
The survey, conducted in March this year, took in 1,004 parents with offspring aged from 12 to 18, asking them about their use of Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek and Copilot.
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The parents felt more competent on the use of search engines, messaging services, Wikipedia, news websites and YouTube, but many found difficulty in regulating smartphone use, with 37% saying they were unable to stop themselves from constantly checking their phones or taking them to bed.
Many parents would like to have greater insight into their offspring’s online activities, with 35% of respondents feeling poorly informed about what their child does online in their free time and only 13% saying they are very well-informed.
Almost half – 49% – see their child’s ability to detect fake news as poor, and as many as 19% believe that they themselves are not good at identifying it.
More than a quarter – 27% – of parents also have difficulty helping their offspring choose suitable online games, and 28% believe they cannot adequately support them in using AI apps for schoolwork.
Around half – 51% – have clear rules regarding smartphone and internet use, with 43% using time limits.
More than half support a general smartphone ban in schools, with 57% believing that social media use should be banned for people under 16 and a quarter supporting a general smartphone ban for all up to the age of 14.
