I’m sure we have all used artificial intelligence (AI) at least once to do our work. It is efficient, fast, and does everything for you, with no cost. It is easy, but what if it were used in schools? This turns the story around. The work that students are supposed to complete to practice their fundamental skills is being done by no other than the AI, which has nothing against cheating and commits every order unquestioningly. In the United Kingdom, 7,000 university students were caught cheating using AI tools in the school year 2023/2024, and since AI is becoming more advanced, this will only increase. We must implement a school version of AI, specialized for students, and with the ability to sense that a student is trying to cheat. Students must learn the fundamental skills that they need for life, and they won’t if they are permitted to cheat using AI.
AI is a tool used for learning, but it has led to problems one too many times. According to Educationweek.org, 63% of teachers said students had gotten in trouble for being accused of using generative AI in their schoolwork, and that is in middle and high school. The students are undermining the education system, and they themselves are not learning anything. This would lead to a decrease in knowledgeable people, and that would lead to disastrous events. To put this in perspective, according to Quartz.com, 22 million students used AI to do their work. And the thing is, most of this goes unnoticed. A lot of AI-generated work goes unnoticed. 22 million is a great quantity, and if we don’t do something, 22 million students will go on in life just being accustomed to making AI do their work.
To address this, AI companies must implement a school version adequate for students that has guardrails against cheating and helps students study and create, instead of replacing and cheating. But what about the systems that catch AI work? The systems that supposedly catch AI cheats don’t work, because according to theguardian.com, researchers at the University of Reading tested their own assessment systems and were able to submit AI-generated work without being detected 94% of the time. This shows that the statistics about students using AI to do their work could be just the tip of the iceberg. Instead, we should make a school version of AI that helps students learn and doesn’t permit cheating. Aurora Public Schools has this plan in action, with an AI called Magic School AI. Magic School AI aims to “function as instructional software. It should support academic tasks, reinforce learning, and help students build skills, while keeping teachers at the center of instruction and support.” This version would greatly benefit students, as it helps them study and improve, while preventing cheating and doesn’t write students’ work for them, which lets students have integrity with their work.
Therefore, you should see that AI isn’t letting students reach their full potential, if they have a way of slacking off and not practicing their skills. A student who doesn’t practice usually fails, and as I said earlier, 22 million students are thus failing class, which would bring down the intelligence quota. If we want to advance in ideas and innovation, we mustn’t be weighed down by doing things the easy way. We must cultivate hard workers and thinkers, and that can be achieved by a school version of AI, which focuses on trying to help students instead of doing their work for them. I believe that if we put this plan into action, we can foster a smart and focused society. Like Napoleon Bonaparte said, “If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.”
