AI and Homework: A Smart Tool or a Risky Shortcut?
By Stella T (High School Senior)
Last year, I watched a friend type nothing and still get an A. She pasted our essay prompt into ChatGPT, waited about ten seconds, and turned in the response. That was it. No outline, no research, no writing, just copy, paste, submit. And no one noticed. We’re not using AI to learn faster. We’re using it so we don’t have to learn at all.
Now, schools have cracked down on AI using tools to detect when a student’s work is written by AI, but students have still found ways around it. Students are aware that teachers have these tools now so they are rewriting AI output in their own words, using AI for brainstorming and ideas, sentence starters or transitions, editing their work, and so many more subtle ways that don’t involve directly copy and pasting AI’s output.
Cheating with AI has become so common with students that at school, you often here “just use chat GPT”, “just use AI” when hearing students discuss work. AI has become so advanced that students are using ChatGPT to write essays, solve math problems, answer reading questions, and so many more tasks. I have even seen classmates brag about never writing a real paper all year.
Chat GPT isnt the only form of AI students use. Students are using the Snapchat AI, the Instagram AI, and the Google AI. Almost every platform has AI installed as they know it is extremely attractive to younger generations.
The real question is, why do students do it? As students gain more priorities and responsibilities heading through middle and higschool, they have immense ressure to get good grades, there is a lack of time, and there is simply too many responsibilities. Additionally, many students simply fear failure, so they would rather some tool do it for them. Technology makes it easy, AI is justone click away.
Using AI too much in schoolwork might seem helpful in the moment, but it actually takes away the chance to really learn. If a student lets AI write their essay or solve their math problems, they’re not actually practicing the skills they need for future assignments, tests, or real life. It also makes it harder for teachers to trust that the work they’re grading is actually the student’s. This hurts the students who don’t cheat and try to do the work on their own, because it’s no longer a fair system.
Instead of ignoring the problem, schools should step up and teach students how to use AI in a smart and honest way. AI isn’t going away, so it makes more sense to teach how to use it responsibly, like brainstorming ideas or checking grammar, not writing full assignments. Teachers can help by making assignments harder to cheat on, like asking for outlines, drafts, and check-ins before the final version. If everyone’s clear about the rules, it helps make school more fair and focused on real learning.
AI can be a really helpful tool, but it depends on how students choose to use it. If it’s being used just to skip the work, that’s a problem, not just for teachers, but for the students themselves. Schools shouldn’t ban AI completely, but they should set clear rules and teach students how to use it the right way. At the end of the day, the goal isn’t just turning in an assignment, it’s actually understanding the material and being ready for what’s next.
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