Is It Worth It? The Impact of AI on Students

Over the course of the last two years, artificial intelligence (AI) has infiltrated classrooms all across the nation. Along with its growth, the accessibility to different artificial intelligence platforms has increased overtime. 

The targeted age range is continuing to expand from high school and college students down to elementary school students. Everyday, students around the world make the decision to use these platforms, unaware of the consequences that come with their actions. 

Artificial intelligence is the production of human-like intelligence on softwares and other modern day technology. In late 2022, the growth of AI was actively being discussed throughout the news and social media. This coverage influenced students to bring AI into the classroom along with them in order to complete assignments. 

ChatGPT, the largest artificial intelligence platform, has transformed the ways in which students approach their work. The platform offers students the opportunity to submit a question or topic to AI bots that review the question and generate a unique response. This element of the platform is seen as a benefit to some students as they are able to produce work for their assignments without spending any time crafting the responses themselves. 

However, by relying on these AI platforms to complete their work, these students lack the ability to gain more knowledge and improve their critical thinking throughout a regular school year. This sets students back on things such as standardized tests, where students are forced to produce their own work in a limited amount of time. Using AI also prevents them from improving in areas of education they are currently struggling with. 

Along with the rapid creation of AI websites, AI detection platforms have caught up in popularity amongst teachers, many of whom are using the detection platforms to identify when AI has been used to produce student responses. 

Using AI is typically looked down upon by teachers and can result in major repercussions. Most teachers believe that the usage of AI in graded work counts as a form of plagiarism. 

At Nutley and most schools, plagiarism goes against the student honor policy and results in punishments such as a failing grade and removal of credits. Considering the usage of AI as a form of plagiarism allows teachers to apply the same consequences. 

To prevent students from depending on these resources, teachers should educate their students on the impacts it has on their academic development, while also enforcing policies that explain the consequences students will face when turning in AI-generated work. 

These policies and consequences can lead students to realize how destructive being caught using AI is to their futures. They will question, is it worth the risk of receiving a failing grade? Is it worth the risk of being taken out of extracurricular activities or an honor society? Is it worth the risk to lose the trust of teachers? Is it worth the risk of losing credits? Is AI worth it?