At the inception of generative chatbots such as ChatGPT, many public and private school teachers around the globe regarded artificial intelligence uneasily. This notion for AI was not without reason, as chatbot AI threatened students’ academic integrity. Despite this, teachers have gradually realized they may have to stop fighting AI and accept it as a tool.
Since the release of ChatGPT, many companies saw the significance of the benefits that AI brought. The competition among various major service-oriented companies drove them to create duplicate AI chatbots, refine them and make them more accessible and user-friendly. “AI damages students’ learning by encouraging them to over-rely on instant answers, which reduces their critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity,” said senior Tiffany Ku. These tempting attributes of AI lead many students around the world to utilize AI incorrectly in school to avoid doing the homework/coursework themselves. Thus, they cut themselves short and mitigated the learning of the curriculum they were supposed to learn.
Because of this, school districts immediately pushed back against AI as they realized the danger it posed to genuine student learning and growth. Unfortunately, the threat of artificial intelligence continued to loom in academics. Currently, 86% of students globally use AI to help with their schoolwork.
While most teachers remained intolerant of the use of AI, some teachers approached AI with an open-minded mindset. AI could be used to help students understand the reasoning behind a conclusion instead of skipping straight to the conclusion. In a K-12DIVE article, Andrew Fenstermaker stated, “When Iowa City Schools students return to school Aug. 23 for the 2024-25 school year, the district will be implementing a new curriculum that teaches them how to safely use AI.”
Public high schools have shifted towards cautiously letting students use AI for specific assignments. “I think that AI can be useful for teachers by having it do easy work like lesson planning and help boost teachers’ creativity with unique projects,” said senior Thomas Bacon.
Not only can students use AI, but teachers can as well. Oftentimes, teachers forget that AI can be a helpful tool for them too, as it can accomplish various tasks such as lesson planning, content creation and grading assistance. “School districts can use AI to personalize learning, give students instant feedback, and help teachers save time on grading and lesson planning,” suggested Ku.
As school districts learn to responsibly hone in artificial intelligence and its vast capabilities, students can learn how to effectively use AI as a learning tool. Teachers don’t have to fear AI as an obstacle to learning, but rather as a support system for students to grasp ideas and concepts. In schools it should be used as an assistive technology that doesn’t only give the answers to a problem but helps pupils cognitively arrive at an answer. Many possibilities and doors open up when students and teachers learn how to responsibly and smartly cooperate with AI to effectively teach and grow the students.
