By NICOLE BARNES and PATTY YAN
The use of AI tools in schools is a serious issue since it raises concerns over plagiarism. While many students do make good use of AI for small tasks, there are still questions of whether or not AI should be used by students and, if so, to what extent it should be permitted.
When asked about the harmful effects of AI tools, A.P. Language and Composition teacher Ms. Palumbo believes that relying too much on the tool can become a problem. “Some of the exams that you’ll take in high school for, let’s say for AP Language and Composition or AP Lit, you’re handwriting your essay and so if you’re overly reliant on the technology, it could be a detriment when you actually have to perform without it,” she said.
English teacher Ms. Palumbo brought up the concern of inaccurate information on AI. She said, “I’ve popped in a few of my essay topics into different programs, and not all of the material that comes back is accurate,” she added.
Students have said that AI does help them in the sense that they are able to learn. Some believe AI explains information well.
Junior Samyra M. further feels that AI tools also affect the critical thinking and reasoning skills of individuals who use them to complete every assignment. She is concerned about over-dependence on AI tools. She said, “At a certain point, it turns from laziness to an over-dependence that’s going to hit them very hard in the future. Like if you can’t create an argumentative essay by yourself, that’s a lot of careers you’re cutting yourself off from by not developing those skills.”
Conversely, some individuals view AI tools with a more positive connotation. English teacher Ms. Zimmerman thinks AI tools have a lot of potential to be helpful to students. “I think it could be really good for understanding a reading that they didn’t understand. You could ask for an explanation in those sorts of ways,” she said.
Director of Technology Dr. Fogarty mentioned that since there’s an age restriction for ChatGPT, it’s best that students adhere to such restrictions since it helps keep students safe.
Regarding the issue over AI usage being used as a source of plagiarism, Dr. Fogarty said, “As a former English teacher, I would start the year with asking you guys to do an in class writing assignment, and that would be my baseline for you going forward.”
He recommends that students don’t use their school accounts to create ChatGPT accounts since it’s unknown what the company does with the information. Due to this issue, Dr. Fogarty has chosen the AI platform Chat for Schools by the company Skill Struck for student and teacher use in our district.