Artificial intelligence in schools is a hotly debated topic. Some believe AI could be a learning tool, while others see it as a form of plagiarism. Plenty of students will use AI to avoid writing long essays, come up with ideas, and answer homework questions. Most teachers see this as lazy and a method of cheating, and I would agree. But as a moral issue, who is to blame?
What I mean is that the option to use AI has never before existed. To cheat before AI, you’d have to paraphrase a friend or steal from a book. This takes so much more effort than just clicking a few buttons. The convenience is what makes AI usage such a widespread issue.
When I think about who uses AI, I think about a student who is maybe a bit lazy, doesn’t understand the content of a lesson, or is too busy doing too many extracurriculars; And frankly, I think, if it was available, my parents would have used AI.
My mom claims that she could have been a good student, but didn’t apply herself in high school. She recalls the time she was caught cutting class, was brought to the principal’s office, and then left the office to skip. I remember her telling me about when she skipped SHARE, a program for students who skipped class, to go to the Bronx Zoo.
My mom is exactly the sort of student who would use Chat GPT. I feel like students shouldn’t use AI to cheat but to treat students who use AI as malicious plagiarists is to paint them with a broad brush. Students need more support and I think it is wrong to place such a moral weight on the actions of a bunch of teens.
Instead, we should look at who is funding AI and also examine the stressors students face. Finland, a country with one of the best education systems, has nearly no homework. It is easy to say that this generation is the problem, but instead, we must examine the world that this generation inherited.
