ChatGPT usage is experiencing a “meteoric rise” among US tweens and teens, according to KidSay’s Q3 Trend Tracker Report. 

The AI tool is tweens/teens’ (ages eight to 15) fifth-favorite app—and it’s even more popular among boys 12 to 15, second only to YouTube—says the Missouri-based children’s research firm, adding that AI’s novelty and multiple uses account for its popularity. 

The only other app that has shown such growth in its trend reports was Pokémon GO in 2016. Like ChatGPT, it went from going unnoticed in one quarter to becoming one of the top-10 most-used apps in the next three-month period.  

ChatGPT is the AI-powered app that tweens and teens use the most, followed by Gemini, Meta AI, Snapchat’s My AI and TikTok Creative Assistant.  

As the kids entertainment sector works to understand and benefit from AI—and The Animation Guild warns of its potential to hurt the industry—kids are already using it to perform a variety of tasks. Most kids use AI to find answers to questions for fun (34%), while others use it to create images (29%), help with schoolwork (22%), make videos (13%) or other uses (2%). 

Another notable takeaway from this latest trend report concerned FAST channels—an increasingly attractive option for eight- to 15-year-olds, since most of them (60%) avoid renting or buying content and prefer free options, according to KidSay. The most-watched FAST channels for this demo include Roku Channel (43%), Tubi (40%), Pluto TV (29%), Freevee (28%), Vudu (13%), Crackle (12%) and Sling Freestream (7%).