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<\/a><\/a>\nJust 13% of the more than 500 high school and college students surveyed said that they want AI to write notes for them, with 21% viewing AI as a distraction from their learning. The results, collected from a survey fielded in July, reveal that students see AI as a study partner, not a ghostwriter.<\/p>
\n\u201cMost students don\u2019t want AI to do the work. They want it to make their own work usable,\u201d said Notability CEO Fred Mitchell. \u201cNotability is built for exactly that.\u201d<\/p>
\nWhile the results indicate that AI\u2019s grip on education may not be as tight as some fear, students are not abandoning AI.<\/p>
\nHalf of students polled said they will use AI in their note-taking this school year, with 34% already using it and 15% planning to start. Among student AI users, the top uses are organizing or summarizing their own notes (64%) and creating study materials from them (59%).<\/p>
\nBut handwriting still rules the classroom, with 78% of students saying that taking notes by hand helps them retain information better than typing, and 81% explaining that they understand material better when they take notes actively instead of relying on recordings or transcripts.<\/p>
\nThese data points further validate Cambridge University Press & Assessment and Microsoft Research research conducted<\/a> in 2025, which found that making notes remains critical for helping students understand and remember new information.<\/p> \nConsidered together, the Notability and Cambridge\/Microsoft surveys suggest that students still believe in the learning power of handwriting, with AI. This counters the narrative that AI is only used to cheat.<\/p> \nThere is another nuance to the AI-student study partnership. Sixty percent of students have avoided reviewing their notes because they were too messy or disorganized, according to the Notability research.<\/p> \nThe solution? Taking notes on a smartphone or tablet with AI that organizes what students already wrote, rather than writing it for them.<\/p> \nFifty-eight percent of students who changed note-taking methods said they saw their grades or learning retention improve, while 93% said searchable, digitally organized notes are important.<\/p> \nThese findings underscore the importance of a digital note-taking tool.<\/p> \nThe Notability survey polled 503 U.S. students ages 14-24 heading back to school this fall, with 46% in high school, 37% from four-year colleges and 14% from community colleges.<\/p> \nAdditional Resources<\/b><\/p> \nAbout Ginger Labs<\/b><\/p> \nGinger Labs is a leading productivity app developer known for its best-selling app, Notability<\/a>. Launched in 2010 with the first release of iPad, Notability provides students and working professionals with innovative digital note-taking, productivity, and study features. The application has been the most popular productivity software on the App Store since 2013.<\/p>\n