Are Students Still Learning or Just Copying?

By: Emma Mosier

High school students are using ChatGPT more than ever, but instead of helping them learn, it’s slowly hurting their thinking. And the scary part? Most students don’t even realize how much they’re hurting their education.

By the time students reach their junior year in high school, chances are, they’ve used Artificial Intelligence to write an essay or two, complete their math homework, or help get some ideas for an upcoming school project. These days, when students get assigned a project or a paper, their first instinct is to run to AI tools. There are two sides to using technology. For one, tools like Chat GPT and other AI apps can be helpful.It can make difficult topics more clear,  brainstorm ideas, and lastly it can help by getting feedback on their work. On the other hand, using AI tools can be very harmful to students. It can be used for cheating and it slows down their learning. 

High school is supposed to be the place where students start to form their own opinions, think on their own, and share their ideas with each other. These skills do not get used when tools like ChatGPT are used as a shortcut. Students' assignments may look completed but most of the time they can not explain their work or what they did to complete the assignment. This saves time, but it also harms students in the long run.

Research can help people understand these concerns for students. For example, in the article “Is It Harmful or Helpful? Examining the Causes and Consequences of Generative AI Usage Among University Students” by Muhammad Abbas, Farooq Ahmed, and Tarik Iqbal Khan. These authors found that students use AI to make things faster and take some stress off their back. This can be bad because students can end up relying on it and getting dependent on it for all of their assignments.

 “Scholars have speculated that the use of ChatGPT may bring many harmful consequences for students.” said  Muhammad Abbas, Farooq Ahmed Jam, and Tariq Iqbal Khan.

“As ChatGPT assists in knowledge acquisition, students can simultaneously apply their newly garnered knowledge, potentially bolstering their academic performance,” said Hyeon Jo

The article, “From Concerns to Benefits: A Comprehensive Study of ChatGPT Usage in Education” by Hyeon Jo also shows the benefits and risks of AI used in education. It highlights the importance of not using AI too much because it can end up having negative effects on students' learning. This article's main focus is that AI works best as a tool to support students and not a tool to use to fully replace the things that high school students should be learning. When students rely on ChatGPT too much, they’re not comprehending any of the information that they should be learning. 

“With the emergence of tools like ChatGPT, maintaining academic integrity has become even more challenging, as AI-generated content is difficult to detect,” said Silvia Ortiz-Bonnin and Joanna Blahopoulou

The article “Chat or Cheat? Academic Dishonesty, Risk Perceptions, and ChatGPT Usage in Higher Education Students” by Silvia Ortiz-Bonnin and Joanna Blahopoulou talks about the academic consequences of using ChatGPT. This article states that cheating with AI tools is a form of “academic dishonesty.” Even though students aren't intentionally cheating, it is still taking a toll on their learning. AI is putting a stop to what needs to be learned and it is doing all of the thinking for the students.  

With all of these articles combined, it shows the real risk that AI tools and ChatGPT have on high school kids today. This does not mean that these tools are bad, because they’re not if they got used in the right ways. Tools like ChatGPT have good potential to strengthen learning but students take that for granted and abuse the use of it. 

Overall, the short term problem solver that AI tools have does not compare to the long term effects that it has on high school students. If it is used in the right ways, then it can be very helpful. If not used in correct ways, then it is very harmful in the long run.

Sources: 

(PDF) Is it harmful or helpful? Examining the causes and consequences of generative AI usage among university students

From concerns to benefits: a comprehensive study of ChatGPT usage in education


 Chat or cheat? Academic dishonesty, risk perceptions, and ChatGPT usage in higher education students | Social Psychology of Education