Do Students Rely More on AI Than on Teachers?  By: Priscila Roque

Artificial Intelligence, known as A.I. for short, has had such a big impact on society, but mostly students. Teachers all over the world have to worry about their students using A.I. and not knowing if their work is original. The website, Exploding Topics says, “Nearly 1.8 billion people worldwide have used A.I. tools, with 500–600 million engaging daily.” With over millions of people using A.I. across the world, a certain amount of those people are students. This leads teachers to start focusing more on their students’ work and paying closer attention to whether or not it may be original work.

Students use A.I. and are not afraid to say it, even claiming that it is a good tool to resource to when they are lost or need help with work. The website, Digiexam, states, “A.I. systems can provide real-time feedback on student performance, allowing for immediate correction and reinforcement of concepts.” This can be viewed as reliable help for students, all they have to do is submit a prompt, or a picture of their work, then get immediate answers. A Junior at Hillgrove High School explains an example of when he has used A.I. for schoolwork. Mathew Elliot says, “Certain things, like some math problems I just don't know how to do. Or, like I said before, it's either been a long day or I have had stuff to do, so they're going to take points away if I don't complete the homework. So, it's just a faster way to do it.” He describes that sometimes, he can feel tired and drained, unable to complete work efficiently. His solution is to use A.I. to finish some work that is due the next day, so that it is completed and turned in on time. After a long school day, many students can feel exhausted, wanting to relax and not have to think about turning in work. This can lead many students to use A.I. to finish assignments for them, getting it over with quickly and moving on to time for themselves. 

Although many students view A.I. as a successful and positive resource, other students think the opposite. Artificial Intelligence has many negative outcomes, like stopping students from using their own knowledge to come up with answers. The website, The New York Times, states, “Some students rely on A.I. to a great extent, to the point where they are unable to critically think and problem solve when faced with a challenging situation. This over-dependence on A.I. results in students not knowing how to do the most basic things.” As students get more used to using A.I. for work, it will result in students becoming more dependent on A.I. to finish stuff for them. Richmond Doma, a Senior at Hillgrove High School explains how he thinks A.I. can affect students’ independent thinking, “I think we should spend more time actually learning, like more time putting in effort into finding out what it is before using A.I., instead of being confused, we have sources, like other teachers and whatever.” Richmond explains how he thinks students should resort to teachers and focusing on information taught to us, rather than choosing to use A.I. on work. Overall, while AI can be a helpful tool, certain students agree that relying on it may weaken skills like critical thinking and independent learning.