Education and Technology

When Helping Is Hurting: AI is Hurting Our Students

A warning from an educator for parents not to be complicit but be vigilant

The first tell was word choice. Pugilist. This student never did the assigned vocabulary, so I knew that this word would likely be outside his vernacular. So, it could have been a thesaurus, right? But the word was used in a way that lacked nuance and didn’t make sense in the sentence.

The second tell was the fact that the paper was three pages longer than assigned. This student, while nice enough, never does more than required. So, the fact that this paper was longer than I had assigned raised a red flag. Ok, maybe I’m a little jaded…

The third and final tell was the repetitive, meandering, and trite nature of the analysis. Spoiler alert- AI-generated papers are not thoughtful or nuanced. Every sentence was well-worn, flat, and unoriginal. It was time to run the AI checker. Result — 0% human generated. 100% likely AI generated.

Now, I had to have a hard conversation with a student whom I like and respect. This conversation went as well as it could under the circumstances. The student owned up to what happened and took full responsibility. I admire how he handled himself and am confident he learned his lesson. I’ll consider this a win, if not an unfortunate experience for the student; he won’t make the same mistake in college.

In my twenty-five years in the classroom as an English teacher, this is not the first difficult conversation I’ve had to have with a student; I’m sure it won’t be the last. I’ve always tried to approach these conversations by encouraging honesty from students and trying to understand them. But, to get to the “why” of what happened requires giving students space to be brave, which is not always easy. As educators, we have to keep trying.

Merging our humanity with technology to save students

AI has complicated this task as we ask what the ethical use of AI actually looks like since this technology is SO new. None of us really know where the ethical lines are.

But as parents and educators, it is our duty to figure it out. As an educator, I’ve been fortunate to have professional development around this issue. So, it is my hope that parents may benefit from what I’ve learned.

This is the first school year that has meant a significant rise of AI in the classroom. Now, I am not one of those educators who believe that AI is the end of humanity and has no place in the classroom. I don’t. I think AI has a place in the world and even in our classrooms.

Much like Mary Shelley’s portrayal of Victor’s creation in Frankenstein, I’m concerned that AI has been unleashed into the world hastily, lacking guidance or proper consideration of how to use this technology wisely.

I am of the belief we are hurting our kids by not being more thoughtful in our approach to this technology. The same dynamic happened when we unleashed social media on teenagers without much thought to the consequences. That has resulted in an epidemic of social anxiety, depression, loneliness, and even suicide among our teens. Have we learned nothing?

“Why are you here in my classroom?”

I asked my students a question today in class — “Why are you here in my classroom?” The response was clear and fairly resounding, which is encouraging. They said they are here to learn and prepare for college. I expected them to get into (rather than prepare for) college or get an A, so this was a real win.

And to be clear, this has not always been a pleasant journey for my students. I am a “notoriously tough teacher” whose class has earned the moniker “Kinglish; not for the faint of heart.” In my twenty-five years, I believe it’s been worthwhile, and I’m pretty confident that my former students would agree.

This means that even my current students know they are here to learn the English skills needed to succeed in college and beyond— reading, writing, listening, and speaking. And I’m here to teach them those skills. That does not mean they won’t be tempted to take a shortcut, which is where parents and educators come in.

If students rely upon use of AI to write complex essays, this hinders the acquisition of all the skills required of them and will result in students who are less prepared to take on the rigor that awaits them in college.

This is my call to educators and parents to work together before this ship can’t be turned and it hits the iceberg.

Writing requires that students read for understanding and depth in literature. Students should be able to understand a text, apply the lessons they learn, and apply those lessons to the larger world. They should also be able to connect themes and ideas to their smaller world.

These skills produce smart, nuanced, thoughtful, and kind young people who will be empowered and have the expertise necessary to move the world in a positive direction.

Don’t we need more of that in today’s world?

I believe that overuse and dependency on AI will hinder the ability of our young people to reach this potential if we are not careful.

Students should be able to craft insightful, sophisticated essays to discuss observations and lessons learned. Often, they are required to compare two seemingly unrelated items.

Students must use essential critical thinking to craft a thoughtful essay and write it in a sophisticated manner that is clear and informative. AI will not help them acquire that skill.

When Helping is Hurting

If students rely on AI to produce a small paragraph to explore the idea of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby, a parent may think, “Well, it’s just a paragraph.” “Johnny also has an AP Bio test to study for.” It’s okay for AI to do the smaller (read less meaningful) assignment. But here is the flaw in that logic.

The smaller assignments build skills for the larger assignments. Students have to look at word choice, connections, sophistication, and sentence structure in this short assignment. For even this simple paragraph, one needs critical thinking.

If students learn to do the small things well, the big things come so much easier. This is the real danger of AI in schools today. If AI does the small things for students, how will students learn to do the big things?

The potential for AI to hurt our student’s ability to think critically should be considered in any conversation about this technology and its use in the classroom. In my experience as a teacher, there is no skill more important to a student’s success than the ability to think critically.

Do you know what else requires the ability to think critically?

Solving the world’s problems.

If students use AI to accomplish these tasks in high school rather than labor over notes, reading, and outlines, they won’t learn what they need to succeed in college or life.

Students who paste text into ChatGPT and get a result (albeit crappy) in less than two minutes and move on won’t learn the skills they need. They will become students who learn WHAT to think rather than HOW to think. And AI will be teaching them; that’s frightening.

Today's students are stressed to unthinkable limits between sports, academics, social pressure, and peer pressure. I understand this more than most. I happen to live in faculty housing right across the street from my high school.

When I walk my dog at 8:30 at night, the student parking lot is still pretty full. After students leave sports or theater on campus, then they go home to do homework, eat dinner, and maybe spend a few minutes with their family if they are lucky. I often get an email from a student with a homework question at 2 AM.

This academic pressure cooker breeds the temptation to take a shortcut; I can’t honestly blame them. I get the allure of just typing something into ChatGPT in a pinch when pushed to the brink.

Parents must intervene, and teachers must call students out in a thoughtful way to help rather than punish them when this happens. We are educators — not punishers.

So, how can parents think about this in a way that is helpful to their kids?

Here’s the litmus test that can help parents figure it out. If I’ve tasked a student to create a playlist for running, I would have no problem with the use of AI. Why not? How is this different than an essay on Hamlet?

Because they already have the skills required to do the task.

They can already create a playlist for any task, so in my book, this would be an efficient shortcut. If a student uses Grammarly to check a document, I think this is a pretty efficient use of AI technology. Yes, Grammarly and Google Translate are both good examples of how AI can help our students. But they also focus on skills our students already have.

Students do NOT have the skills to write complex and sophisticated essays for Hamlet, however. Using ChatGPT for that as a shortcut is not worth the cost.

So, educators and parents, consider the skill required as you help your student navigate this new AI world. If this is a skill they need to develop, they need to develop that skill. AI will only hinder this process.

Don’t encourage or allow the use of AI. If it’s something they already know how to do, maybe it’s ok to be more lenient.

But, if we work together in partnership as educators and parents, I believe we can make the best use of this amazing technology — we only have to pay attention and be deliberate in our approach. And parents and educators must be partners on the same team.

I write a lot about students and how educators and parents can partner to set them up to be their best selves. If you would like to read my piece on helping students acquire grit, you may read it here. It may help avoid AI shortcuts that are not worth the cost. Here’s to a better-prepared group of students in 2024.

Now, my insights here are anecdotal. I’m an educator and do not profess to be an AI expert. I only see what is in my classroom. But, there are several helpful tools out there for parents and educators.

Insights From Emerging Studies and Resources

My professional development in teaching included an insightful study and guidelines by Lydia Cao and Chris Dede of Harvard. This tool shaped my approach to AI in the classroom and is linked here.

And if you want to read an entire book, I recommend The AI Classroom by Daniel Fitzpatrick, Amanda Fox, and Brad Weinstein.

The biggest takeaway is that one must be aware and mindful; that will save our kids. The technological advances that are coming in 2024 will continue to bring challenges to our students.

Thank you for reading my story.