Even if you’re not aware of it, you know someone who used AI to cheat on schoolwork. It could be a friend, sibling, or even you. It’s forecasted that there will be an annual increase of 37.2% use of AI in class, from 2023-2030 not only by students but the teachers as well.
“’I‘ve caught several students, and I make them feel guilty,” Bradley Smith, English I and II, teacher said. “I mean, the biggest thing is I make them feel silly because the reality is the writing assignments in my class are not difficult.”
Over the past year, more and more students have been using AI in their assignments. The Turnitin AI detector has reported that more than 200 million assignments have been run through their system, and AI has been detected in one out of every 10 assignments. Stanford’s research shows that more than 60 percent of students “have engaged in at least one cheating behavior” since ChatGPT was introduced, making the surge of AI use in classrooms worse. However, not all students feel it’s morally right to use AI on assignments. Hayli Cranmer (11) is one of those students.
“It’s plagiarism and unethical because it’s not authentic. It’s like using photo math for your math homework,” Cranmer said.
A good portion of the student population thinks AI is sketchy and believes they would be receiving the wrong answer. School districts around the nation have enforced policies towards AI, stating any use detected in a student’s work is considered academic dishonesty and cheating.
“I understand how it qualifies as dishonesty. I don’t think anyone should use it for schoolwork,” Cranmer said.
AI is changing the trajectory of classrooms and the style of teaching, pulling more focus on creativity and independent thinking. Teachers give students more of an insight into how to have more of a personal approach to their work. However, not all use of AI is bad for education, teachers now helping hand when it comes to grading, adaptive learning, and improved teaching resources. AI is helping teachers balance the many workloads they have to deal with. Nonetheless, AI is not a resource for students to forge their work, but to give them creative prompts or ideas that can help inspire their work.
