We May Be Getting Stupider: What Generative AI is Doing to Our Classrooms

Many students use ChatGPT to make school work easier.

Yes, you heard me right; we may be getting stupider. But don't worry—it's not just us! Roughly 85% of high school students in the United States are too. This is because of Generative AI, software that creates new, original content, and learns patterns from massive datasets, allowing for human-like outputs in response to prompts. Many see this as a positive way to explore new technology, but evidence shows troubling trends with reliance on such software. Studies show that the usage of Artificial Intelligence can lead to an erosion of cognitive capabilities, a reshaping of human relationships, and a decrease of critical thinking. 

However, Generative AI is not all bad. AI can be useful for students as a kind of tutor, with its ability to streamline work and explain difficult concepts in simpler terms. This technology has many benefits, and as MIT puts it “ [AI] is not only a game-changing general-purpose technology” but it “allows people to do more meaningful work”.  

Andy Owens, a 12th-Grade Ethnic Literature teacher at CCHS says that AI is “a really great tool for learning” and can ideally be used to “help students understand certain concepts.” However, in personal experience, this is not typically the case. On the occasions Mr. Owens has allowed the usage of AI in his assignments, he has found that many of his students simply “take a picture of it [the work] and copy down the answer generated.” This is not solely a CCHS trend: around 68% of teachers surveyed by the Center for Democracy and Technology have shown that they use some form of AI-detection tool for their students due to this concerning movement.

When asking my peers “Why do you use AI for schoolwork?” the general consensus was that using AI is ‘easier’. As mentioned earlier, the usage of AI dramatically decreases worktime and workloads, allowing for more free time and less stress. So, to many, AI is easy. Using generative AI to answer questions or give the Cliffnotes of a text is simpler than actually reading or doing the work. By using AI, students' stress vanishes, and students feel like they don't need to think while doing schoolwork.

But, does this truly fulfill the point of an educational experience?

School is intended to encourage critical thinking. Yes, at times it can be exceedingly difficult, stressful, and downright horrid. But there is not one scrap of information that AI may give you, that you can't find out by asking your teacher or investigating for yourself. The solution to the stress school gives you is not asking your Snapchat AI for answers, it's in one conversation. Instead of a reliance on AI, we should be facilitating stronger partnerships between students and teachers to provide knowledgeable answers from trustworthy mentors in our lives.

Now, this article is not intended to judge or criticize those who use AI; there are many completely understandable reasons to use a resource as helpful as Artificial Intelligence. Life is already demanding enough, and adding assignments, tests, and essays on top of that doesn't make it any easier. But the truth is, no matter how hard it tries, an algorithm can't replicate the experiences and knowledge you gain from simply trying. Regardless of if a student fails or succeeds, AI is no match for the real human urge to learn. If we truly want to get the best experience we can out of life, we can't settle for the ‘easy’ answer.