By Nadia Garabedian

With the recent introduction of Artificial Intelligence, onto the world stage, society has reaped many benefits. Whether it is within the medical field, agriculture field, or technological field, as well as others, A.I. has been able to perform tasks and generate new innovations for the betterment of society. Although A.I. has opened up a new world of understanding and possibilities, the misuse of it within classrooms has had its setbacks. Students have taken advantage of these news innovations, making it hard for both students and teachers to navigate around the misuse of A.I. within the classroom. 

Many students tend to abuse the use of A.I., using it to cheat for a better grade. Within the college classroom, multiple students use ChatGPT to write their essays for them, allowing the computer to spit out either an already contrived argumentative thesis or evidence to support their claims. According to Intelligent, 29% of ChatGPT student users use it to write their essays in full. Not only does this limit student learning, but it also devalues the work of those students who choose to not use A.I. and instead put in their own effort. Although there are tools that detect A.I. usage, the fact that this technology is fairly new makes these functions harder to acquire. This infuriates many teachers since they often have less “proof” to accuse someone of cheating, and in turn, the student does not reap the consequences of their actions. In most cases, students who plagiarize are reported to the school’s administration, warranting consequences as a result. However, since A.I. is newer and therefore harder to catch, teachers have a tougher time being able to report a student’s academic misconduct. 

More than cheating on essays or tests, students are also using A.I. as a method of taking notes and regurgitating study material. Although there are some instances in which students need to use this form of learning, like students with certain learning disabilities, the majority of those using these functions do not need it, but rather use it as a substitute for paying attention in class. This not only prohibits student comprehension, but it also diminishes the value of learning within the confines of the classroom, as well as devaluing the hard work that other non A.I. using students put into their learning. Ariel Gutkin, freshman at UCLA, discusses the unfairness of students who stay up finishing their work while students who use ChatGPT tend to get good grades without putting in the effort. Gutkin states, “I think this really ends up overshadowing the effort that people put into their own work without A.I. usage and it’s pretty sad.” 

In a society so fraught with understanding the possibilities of how soon in-person class can be limited, many students fail to appreciate the value of in-person learning. The unfortunate result of COVID-19 in 2020 hindered student learning, through which both students and teachers had to navigate the best way to learn through a screen. Fortunately, in-person learning has resumed, yet students still do not appreciate this opportunity. Relying on A.I. to do the learning for them, students lack the motivation and consistency to attend class regularly. This, in turn, has made attendance in many classes low, as well as people thinking that one missed class will not harm them since they can have A.I. do their work for them. 

The misuse of A.I. within the classroom is definitely an obstacle the education system has to battle. Unfortunately, it is those that abuse this technological advancement that make it hard to differentiate between true academic success and the ability to use A.I. in a way that mirrors one’s own work. Ultimately, it is saddening that many students abuse A.I., however, the truth must always prevail. Once students enter the real world, those who used A.I. in class must face the consequences of having had a robot complete years worth of work for them.