Over the past two school years, after AI became available to the public, I’ve seen it seep into the lives of students around me.
I’ve had issues with group work because I would research using Google Scholar and find scholarly articles and studies while my groupmates sent some information with ChatGPT. Not only is this highly discouraged by professors, but I don’t trust AI to give me fully valid information, so I don’t feel comfortable utilizing it for school.
I feel negative about AI in general. I question the ethics of using others’ work to train it and the validity of the information it provides. I worry that students will rely on it more than they will actually learn.
A report by American Progress about implementing AI in schools discusses what is necessary for learning and how AI may benefit or disadvantage students’ education.
One point discussed in the report is students’ need for social interaction for social and cognitive development; therefore, the use of chatbots in place of teachers or peer interactions doesn’t benefit a student.
The report also discusses what AI cannot provide, such as identifying reasons for student errors and clarifying explanations. It’s also not ready to offer meaningful reasons as to why a student needs to learn or understand something, which are all crucial factors in learning.
While AI has benefits like quick responses and can help with resumes, without precaution, students may rely too heavily on it for homework and quiz help rather than absorbing and learning the material.
A student survey was conducted by the Digital Education Council in 2024, aiming to provide insight into students’ thoughts on AI in higher education. They gathered 3,839 responses across 16 countries from bachelor, master and doctorate students in multiple fields of study.
This survey found that 86% of students reported using AI in their studies, with 54% using it weekly and 24% using it daily.
I’m not surprised so many students use it, but daily use borders on relying on it. This is concerning, seeing as assignments and quizzes aren’t due daily.
The survey also found that 52% of students believe over-reliance on AI will negatively impact their academic performance, but 86% use it despite this belief.
With all of that in mind, using AI has benefits, and while I won’t list them, I’ll say I use it on Quizlet to help me study. It’s important to clarify that I do that after using multiple other study methods and feel I grasp everything necessary; using the Q-chat feature can help review different questions or go more in-depth with a topic.
The only other time I have used AI was to help create more details about a fictional character after inputting information about them. I try not to use it whenever I can just because I feel questionable about the ethics, and until it’s clear that it is ethical, I will possibly use it a little more.
Kate Beske is a 21-year-old journalism senior from Destrehan, La.
