Artificial intelligence (AI) has become part of daily life at school, whether it’s writing a rough draft, checking grammar, or just figuring out a confusing assignment. Tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly AI, and others are being used more than ever, as some students continue figuring out how to use them responsibly, while others take advantage of the technology to cut corners.
“I think it’s a good thing as long as you’re not using it to completely avoid doing the work,” said junior Emma Angeli, who said she sometimes uses AI to help reword parts of her writing when she’s stuck. “It’s more like a way to get past writer’s block than to cheat.”
AI is changing how students approach schoolwork. Some use it to break down complex topics or get help when a teacher isn’t available. Others admit it can be tempting to let the tech do too much of the thinking.
“I used it to understand a difficult article and it explained things in a way that made sense,” said junior Ale Alvarez, who thinks AI is useful but also worries it could make students too dependent. “I get why some people think it’s doing too much for us.”
For most students, it comes down to how AI is used. It can be a powerful learning tool or a shortcut, depending on the person.
As AI keeps improving, students and teachers will need to keep adjusting. The challenge now is finding the balance between getting help and doing the learning ourselves.
“I had both my freshmen and senior year English classes use ChatGPT to break down complicated articles from scholarly journals and write their paper. Then, they had to go in and re-write what ChatGPT came up with so that when they uploaded it to Turnitin, they would not get dinged for plagiarism. What many of my students reported was that they liked telling Chat to convert a scholarly article into something a 12-year-old could understand because it furthered their comprehension of complex subject matter. However, they did not like translating Chat to their own words finding it cumbersome and making them realize they would be better off just writing the paper themselves,” said Media Director, Ms. Cristina Ramirez.
