Overuse of artificial intelligence is becoming a concern, especially in the school setting. Many teachers are worried students are not learning as much with widespread AI tools more easily available. English Language Arts teacher Shauna Rinearson said AI is becoming a problem because it is doing a lot of the thought process for students.
“I think [some] harmful effects could be over reliance on the [AI] tool, basically outsourcing our thinking,” Rinearson said. “It just can’t replace the thinking for us … we need to make sure that we use [AI] in ways that don’t diminish our learning.”
Another problem that arises with overusing AI is students will lose the ability to do certain tasks themselves, because they will be used to having AI do it for them. Sophomore Quinn Hunter said AI can potentially hinder students from learning more in depth.
“Over reliance on AI and AI tools by students could lead to many not developing skills needed to progress farther,” Hunter said. “If I just use AI for everything, I won’t really learn.”
Not only can it be a problem in classrooms, but also in everyday life. Many people turn to chatbots for simple questions rather than search engines. Sophomore Nithya Suravarapu said it is hard to avoid using AI, and she said it is a tool that has to be used with caution.
“As much as we [don’t want] to admit … if you have AI, you’re always going to end up using it,” Suravarapu said.
However, there are some positive aspects to AI in schools. It can make learning more efficient, help teachers plan and come up with ideas and provide study resources. Rinearson said that like Wikipedia, which is a good starting point for research, AI, when used correctly, can be beneficial.
“I think that AI potentially could be helpful in a similar way,” Rinearson said. “There is a lot of potential for AI to be very helpful in academia.”
As AI is rapidly developing and improving, there is a lot of speculation on its future. Hunter said it is hard to predict what it will look like, and students have to be careful when using it.
“There are many tools that could improve the learning experience,” Hunter said. “It’s kind of difficult to imagine how things could change … but there are a lot of downsides that I do think need to be avoided.”
Rinearson said schools may move to a more traditional educational approach because AI and other technology will become too widespread.
“Ironically, I think we’re going to see kind of a shift back toward more paper and pencil learning,” Rinearson said. “We are so inundated by technology all the time.”
