Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become prominent within schools in recent years. Many teachers view use of AI by students as wrong with some viewing it as improper in an academic setting, while others see it as non-credible but don’t know how to counteract it. As AI is constantly developing, students are always finding new ways to get around AI tests or get past teachers’ watchful eyes. As the use of AI continues to grow, both teachers and students are raising questions about its use in education.
“If we don’t find that ethical line real quick, a lot of teachers are going back to paper and pencil,” said Ian Mounteer, an English teacher at Skyline. Many teachers are going back to pen and pencil, as even if a student does copy down something written by AI onto a piece of paper, they have a much better chance of remembering and being able to take away some form of learning from the assignment. With AI being used so much, more serious problems are arising in youth around the world, especially in critical thinking skills.
“If a student becomes dependent on going to AI to find answers, they never learn how to come up with their own,” Anita Ardi, one of the AP Human Geography teachers at Skyline, said when asked about how students might misuse AI. AI is replacing a lot of student work in the way that, when they get stuck or don’t have enough time to write an essay or respond to a prompt, they will immediately go to AI instead of their teacher. This is reducing critical thinking skills, as students won’t try to work through their assignment. Many students have differing views on this; however, a more prominent opinion is that teachers should be held to the same AI rules as students.
“If students aren’t allowed to, then teachers should be able to do stuff without AI too,” said Sophomore Eila Yorgason. Some teachers will agree with this–-not using AI at all–-but others will use AI to varying extents. Using it to create bases for rubrics, lesson plans, or to grade Multiple Choice Questions. Teachers can’t stop students from using AI, but many hope their students will see an ethical line that they shouldn’t cross.
“We need to figure out how to find that balance between when it’s okay to use and when it isn’t,” said Ardi, when asked about her thoughts on the ethics of AI. What many students don’t understand about AI is even if they don’t quote it directly, it’s still considered plagiarism. This is a problem in high school, but when students grow up, get jobs, or go to college, using AI could get them fired or expelled from the college. Teachers are always trying to stop the use of AI, but there really isn’t a way to.
AI is constantly evolving, and students are always finding workarounds to the walls that tell them to stop. Teachers are starting to warm up to it, so people wonder whether AI will soon be fully incorporated into the classroom. “AI is a Pandora’s box situation, […] and it’s open,” said Mounteer.
