Did you know that Artificial Intelligence is one of the biggest risks in today’s world? It’s a danger to creating and spreading false information, creates a variety of other risks, and can be an overall threat to human productivity.
In addition, over the years AI has started to impact education in schools. However, now there’s much debate on the pros and cons of utilizing AI in today’s educational settings and society in general.
AI has become a heavy concern in student’s education in terms of completing assignments. Students tend to use AI either because they don’t understand their assignment or they simply do not feel like doing their work. There is great concern that students are relying too much on AI to complete assignments for them; therefore avoiding the challenges they need to face in order to grow academically.
English teacher Angela Single shares that “It can be a benefit for teachers in assisting them with coming up with reading questions or even a rubric” and that AI can be used “100% if used as a tool, but 0% if you’re using it as a substitute for good old fashioned thinking and work.” However, she shares that “The disadvantage is that students are trying to use it as a way to shortcut and not do the work for an assignment, and sadly, most kids suck as cheaters. They don’t realize that we know their style of writing or their vocab levels and can spot AI a mile away.”
For example, studies have shown that 51% of people ranging from ages 14-22 have been
reported using AI at some point in their life. In addition, 53% of AI has been used for receiving answers but 51% was used for brainstorming purposes (Nagelgout). If students here at KHS submit work that is completed by AI, they will receive a zero for their assignment as it’s considered cheating and may not be able to make up the assignment.
Most students and teachers agree that AI has become an issue in student’s education, but
can be useful in some situations. Junior N’Naya S shares that “AI is beneficial if you
don’t know the answers to your work but a disadvantage if you actually are trying to learn something and use AI to do all the work for you.” Another junior, Anthony O shares that “AI could be a disadvantage if you’re only trying to get answers and not to actually understand the work. This shows that most students feel that AI can be mostly beneficial when trying to understand and make sense of an assignment, but the disadvantage comes when students rely too heavily on AI to complete the assigned tasks for them rather than putting in the effort themselves to do the work.
This shows that overall AI can be a beneficial tool when it comes to brainstorming ideas, but students tend to abuse AI to complete their work for them. Overall, Artificial Intelligence has been seen to be both a beneficial and a disadvantage when it comes to student’s education. AI can be beneficial to students to make sense of something they don’t fully understand, but can be used too much to where they rely on AI for everything.
However, AI is here to stay so how does education and so many other aspects of society learn to work with it without letting it steal all our potential and capabilities?
Sources:
Nagelhout, Ryan. “Students are using AI already. Here’s what They Think Adults Should Know”. Harvard Graduate School of Education. 10 September 2024. Web Accessed 15 May 20245.
