According to campustechnology.com, 92% of students use artificial intelligence in their studies, and 56% use it at least weekly, if not daily. While the concept of AI has been around since the 1950’s, it has become increasingly mainstream in the past few years. Because of this, there are limited studies on the long-term effects of this AI epidemic. But experts and educators have still seen firsthand its effects on students.
According to coursera.org, “Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems capable of performing complex tasks that historically only humans could do, such as reasoning, making decisions, or solving problems.” AI is meant to directly copy the actions of the human brain. People experience it daily, whether in customer service, personal use, search engines, etc. Though it sounds daunting, AI can be a useful tool if used right.
According to immerseeducation.com, “How AI helps students varies widely: it can suggest personalized exercises, simulate real-world experiments via virtual labs, provide language practice tools, or even detect when a student is struggling and offer proactive support.” Supposedly, AI can open new doors for learning. It can offer a variety of resources that will not break the school’s budget. Along with that, it can help teach a broader range of students and allow educators to better help students with learning disabilities and other struggles. Teachers can also benefit from it.
According to edweek.org, “Some of the ways teachers have been using AI include curriculum and content development (69%), student engagement (50%), professional development (48%), and grading tools (45%), the survey found.” However, these benefits only work if artificial intelligence is used correctly and ethically. It can be difficult to see real data on this, as many large tech companies as well as those in power who benefit from the growth of AI can confuse users with propaganda.
Furthermore, the increased use of AI requires students and teachers to learn better online literacy, with schools feeling pressure to teach this. It is a beneficial skill but does take class time. Despite being a unique and recent technology with endless possibilities, AI can have many downsides to be wary of besides simply requiring online literacy.
According to healthychildren.org, the growing use of AI for kids can lead to many sharing personal information with AI and finding it reliable and trustworthy, sometimes more than other humans. This poses the question, can a growing mind fully understand the concept of artificial intelligence, even as it surrounds them? While discussing the ethics of AI, cheating is becoming even more prevalent of a topic.
According to allaboutai.com, 88% of students admit to using AI on graded assignments, and over 66% of academic misconduct is now AI related. With the increase of generative AI, such as ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini, this issue is one of the hardest to curve. This reliance on artificial intelligence has lowered many student’s critical thinking skills and has led educators to question their students more than ever before.
Overall, artificial intelligence is around to stay, beneficial or not. So, it is up to schools, parents and students to decide their own morals and put their own boundaries in place.
