A fact of life is that AI is unescapable. It floods social media, has taken charge of smart devices (like ALEXA), and gives the first answer when searching the internet. 

Since AI has taken over everything, it is important to ask what role AI has in education, before it fully takes over schools.

When asking this question it is important to look at all perspectives and view points on the matter. Along with not viewing AI use with an “all or nothing” attitude. 

We ask that you read this article with an open mind, and consider both sides of the coin, the students and the teachers, as AI’s role in education affects them the most.

(Also note, this is not an opinion piece, we are purely focusing on the role AI has in education through the eyes of students and teachers.)

Teachers live a busy life. They typically teach six classes a day, each with about 20 students, that’s 120 students. Which is 120 essays. 120 projects. 120 quizzes. That’s hours of work spent outside the classroom trying to get results and feedback back to students. 

“I like it (AI) because it gives feedback that I have always wanted to give, but don’t have time to do for every essay, especially when students have written multiple essays and I have over 60 students to give feedback to,” Amanda Franke, the AP Lang teacher, said. 

Franke uses an AI grader in order to get students feedback and grades faster than she could do it. After she runs the essays through the AI grader, she then reads through each essay and the provided feedback, picking the pieces of feedback she agrees with, before sending it out to the students.

Using AI to grade saves a lot of time for teachers. It simplifies their jobs, and opens opportunities to spend time doing something more beneficial for the class, like creating a lesson plan, or having a class discussion.

Along with grading, some teachers use AI to generate discussion questions, busywork, and quiz questions. This also allows teachers to save time.

“I like having AI come up with some of these things for me because it looks at it from a different angle than I would,” Franke said.

If AI grading and its other uses for teachers allows for them to spend less time away from students, and more time teaching them, then why shouldn’t they use it?

“If I had A.I. grade the writing, I would save a lot of time, but I would lose the opportunity to know their thought process, which, for me, is teacherly mojo,” Alexander Schaper, the AP Lit teacher said. 

Schaper makes a fair point. For him the cost of using an AI grader equals the loss of knowing his students’ writing. Along with this, Schaper believes that AI’s intent is efficiency, and that is not the point of writing, or other creative tasks. 

“To me, A.I. feels like a hammer, and everything it does is looked at like a nail. But what if it’s not a nail? What if it’s a screw? What if it’s a rivet? What if it’s a lady-bug or a big toe?” Schaper said.

Students live a busy life. They are typically enrolled in seven courses, each a different subject. Each with homework. Each with projects. Each with a test. That’s hours spent outside the classroom studying, researching, and working for a passing grade. Not only do they have school, but also, sports, work, and chores.

Now, those students who are up before the sun, and down long after it, have the option to click a couple of buttons and their homework will be done. They can be free to sleep.

But AI is not being used like that by every student. In fact, most are only using it as a tool. Turing to it, when a math teacher can not get a concept across to them.

“I’ve used AI at times to help me understand how particular trigonometric equations work, since my teacher sometimes doesn’t explain things as well as I need them to be,” Nancy Badwan (9) said.

Students also use AI to spark inspiration and expand on original ideas for more creative projects.

“I use AI for a lot. I use it outside of school to come up with ideas for things and sometimes I use it in school to assist me with assignments,” Jackson Adams (11) said.

Students that use AI to inspire, expand, and assist learning, are using it as a tool, not as a way to avoid doing work. In this sense, students are using AI to a similar degree that teachers have been using it.

If using AI as a tool helps students in ways that teachers cannot, then why should students avoid using it for this purpose?

“I think AI has no place in school. It takes away vital learning experiences; and makes people dependent on an internet connection to do basic things, like writing and brainstorming,” Louis Stoyanov (12) said.

According to an MIT study, the use of AI does exactly that. The group that used AI to fully write an essay, had “low executive control and attentional engagement” (Times). The effect of AI use is only in the beginning of its research, but it currently is  showing a decline in brain activity, something to be concerned about.

Not only does AI use potentially lead to a decrease in brain activity, but it also causes significant loss of originality. This is because AI is just the accumulation of others’ work and ideas.

“When I do see AI, even out in the world of marketing, it stands out and is just… soulless. Some incredible art and ideas have been created by real people in the name of marketing…. AI can not do that,” Micah Hutton, the marketing teacher, said.

The downfall of AI use on originality and capability is something that prevents several students from opening the can of worms known as AI use.

Because of AI’s prevalence in the world, banning it in school is not the solution. In fact, banning it will only cause more problems, more cheating, and more frustration. Instead of viewing AI as being “all or nothing,” we should think about how the district can teach and provide AI for educational use. 

“I think that AI shouldn’t be completely banned. But, maybe we should be restricted to using a model that can at least assist us without giving us the entire answer,” Adams said. 

Providing an AI for students could decrease full AI use on assignments. Leading to a more collaborative use of AI, something that students will need to be able to do after graduation.

Teachers should also be provided, or at least encouraged, to use certain AI models for grading. AI does not always understand or grasp what to focus on when grading an essay, if the district approved certain AI models, it would give teachers a model they could feel dependent on.

While providing an AI model may not be possible, teaching proper AI use is. Both students and teachers need to learn how to use AI and understand the impact AI use has on the world.

Solution to AI use in education for students and teachers is something that needs to be discussed before it becomes too late. When teachers and students become dependent on AI, there will be no effective way to implement a solution. We must act now, and find solutions to AI use in education.