When society decides to imbue students with the idea that education is about task-completion rather than deep understanding, it leads to a lack of connection between the student and their learning. Furthermore, when given a free way out of doing these seemingly meaningless tasks, students are far less likely to commit their time to truly comprehending the topics they are given.
“Whoever thought AI would free creatives to be more creative was not paying attention; it pushes us to produce more, not reflect more,” successful graphic designer Sanchit Sawaria said.
From Help to Harm
When it comes to the controversial topic of AI in educational settings, student opinions are split. From one perspective, AI can assist an individual by creating study helpers and deepen their comprehension on specific topics.
“I’ve used AI in AP Psychology when my teacher had AI make a study guide for us, and I thought it was pretty helpful,” sophomore Harris Tran said.
Although most AI technologies have been banned on Crown Point chromebooks, the school corporation is not opposed to AI being used in students’ education. The use of Magic School, an AI program designed to assist students in answering their own questions, supports this goal.
“We don’t want to stop AI use, but want to instead support thoughtful use of AI that is guided by teachers,” Crown Point Community School Corporation’s Curriculum and Instruction team said.
What the corporation does not support is the use of AI in terms of it completing assignments and assessments in their entirety. “Some people use AI to do their homework for them instead of using it to help them understand,” sophomore Emerson Norris said. “It will most likely affect their scores on tests.”
With the benefits and consequences that AI can bring in regards to schooling, students have to draw the line between ethical and unethical AI utilization.
“I think AI does have some helpful uses when it comes to spell check or giving preliminary ideas, but I feel like broadly it shouldn’t be used because it’s unethical,” sophomore John Van Sickle said. “The whole point of school is to learn and get better, and using AI defeats the entire purpose.”
While applying AI to learning may not seem like a big deal to some, the greater picture of education is to prepare one for the life ahead of them. If AI is being used during one’s school experience, the tasks they may be subjected to in the future may come with much more difficulty.
More Screens, Less Connections
Using AI impractically can not only get a student in trouble with teachers, but it can also impact the student-teacher relationships that are supposed to be built in learning atmospheres.
“A student could be relying on a teacher and improving relations with that teacher instead of using AI for help,” junior Asher McAlvey said. “You’ll go to a teacher more if you trust them, and that bond can’t be made if you don’t talk to them.”
AI is not only damaging a student’s critical thinking, but it also allows for a gap in relations between teachers and students.
If a student decides to go to a chatbot for help instead of utilizing the support of a teacher from the beginning, they will be more likely to repeat this cycle as the year goes on. This cycle is not only easy to fall into but is also extremely harmful.
Teachers are beginning to become worried in regards to the extent of AI utilization.
“I am concerned about students becoming over reliant on AI and losing the ability to think critically,” English teacher Eric Beard said.
A hit to one’s grades is not the only negative short-term effect of using AI for assignments. Having the chance to connect with teachers is one of the many benefits to learning. Without these connections, students may struggle more than intended.
The Consequences of Cutting Corners
The simple assistance that AI was originally intended to be used for can quickly turn into the much greater issue of using it to cut corners in education. As today’s students begin to enter the workforce or follow college pathways, the downsides to repeated use of AI may be put on display.
“If you’re on the spot in a job, you can’t rely on AI to come up with a solution for you,” McAlvey said. “You have to be able to come up with it by yourself.”
Others believe that with the rapid growth of AI technology, the programs will be able to further accommodate future workers.
“The thing about AI is, if you can use it for tasks now, you can probably use it to a greater extent in the future,” Van Sickle said. “If you’re using AI in a way that it can still be used in college or in a job, there’s really no difference in difficulty there.”
Regardless of the way AI continues to develop in upcoming years, students should be as prepared as possible to go to the next level in their lives. Using AI to skip busy work or other assignments may seem like a no-brainer, but reflecting on how much you may need the skills taught in school for the future may make one think otherwise.
Overall, the use of AI in education has the potential to be helpful, but when AI is abused or misused in the educational field, it often hinders performance in the future.
