The Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations (UGAMM), aka Kai Fong, hosted yesterday a conference about the findings of its survey showing that 99 percent of Macau students use AI chatbots.
The conference was held at the group’s headquarters in Toi San. The survey titled “Macau Non-Tertiary Students’ Cognition and Behaviour in Using Generative AI”.
The survey was conducted between December last year and March this year, collecting 5,971 valid questionnaires from 18 local schools. Respondents were aged between 10 and 19. The survey aimed to understand the latest trends in students’ use of AI.
The findings show that the frequency of AI use among students increases significantly with grade level, with over 30 percent of secondary school students using AI five days a week or more, as AI is becoming an increasingly preferred source of assistance for students; among senior secondary students, AI has even surpassed teachers as a priority for seeking help, reflecting a growing dependence on AI.
The findings also show that nearly 20 percent of students have sought emotional support or interpersonal advice from AI, primarily due to its characteristics of “low social cost” and “high privacy”; furthermore, some students even regard AI as a friend or a “virtual social worker”.
The Kai Fong research team expressed concern during the conference that if students become overly immersed in virtual companionship over the long term, they might mistake fictional content for reality, thereby delaying their access to professional assistance.
5 key recommendations
The research team put forward five key recommendations during the conference.
First is to strengthen risk education and AI literacy. They suggested that while the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) promote technology education, it should also consider incorporating “AI safety and ethics” as a mandatory subject to help students develop a clear awareness of digital risks.
Second is for civil society to pay attention to the potential risks of young people seeking emotional support from AI. The research team expressed concern that if students become overly immersed in AI’s virtual companionship over the long term, they may mistake fictional content for reality, potentially delaying their access to professional assistance. The team recommended conducting a long-term follow-up study and maintaining ongoing attention to the phenomenon of “AI emotional companionship.”
Third, the team recommended that efforts focus on enhancing students’ “higher-order thinking skills”* to counter the risk of “cognitive outsourcing”**, adding the goal is to guide students in learning how to collaborate effectively with AI rather than relying on it blindly.
Fourth, the team calls on parents to be mindful of the evolving nature of parenting in the age of AI. By fostering authentic and meaningful emotional connections, parents can guide their children to benefit from technological conveniences while still maintaining the ability to engage in genuine interpersonal interactions.
Fifth, the team recommended that the Health Bureau (SSM) collaborate with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to implement measures aimed at equipping young people with foundational knowledge of mental health. These efforts would help address the physical and emotional developmental needs of adolescents growing up in the AI era.
*Higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) are cognitive processes that go beyond basic recall or simple comprehension of facts. They involve complex, reflective, and analytical mental activities used to understand, evaluate, and create new knowledge or solve novel problems. – Poe
**”Cognitive outsourcing” refers to contracting out tasks that require mental processes – thinking, decision-making, analysis, creativity, or judgment – to external people, teams, or even systems rather than handling them in-house. – Poe
Members of the Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations (Kai Fong) survey research team (from right to left) Hoi Tin Iek, Sam Keng Wan and Chan Ka Ian present the findings of their survey to a conference at the Kai Fong headquarters in Toi San district yesterday. – Photo: Armindo Neves
