Thousands of schools use AI to monitor students' communications and web searches. gremlin/Getty Images Schools often use AI to detect students at risk of self-harm, violence against others, and bullying. Some worry these programs violate students' privacy and freedom to use the internet, WSJ reports. One AI company said it detected 5,000 self-harm or suicide situations among students in a single week. See more stories on Insider's business page. As students head back to school, school districts across the country are using artificial-intelligence programs to monitor their communications and web searches to detect those at risk of self-harm, bullying, violence, and other mental health issues, a report from the Center for Democracy and Technology said.While surveillance programs in schools are widespread - 71% of teachers in the CDT survey said their schools used monitoring software - critics say the use of these programs can infringe on students' privacy and can lead to a slippery slope if schools begin to use the AI for reasons like discipline, instead of harm prevention.The software typically scans for certain key words and phrases on school-issued devices and alerts an administrator when it finds a targeted key phrase, The Wall Street Journal reported.