The Rise of A.I in Schools: How Maryvale Will Adapt

Over the last couple of years, artificial intelligence (A.I) platforms have seen a dramatic increase in popularity. These websites quickly answer questions and complete tasks prompted by the user. 

For many students, A.I platforms such as ChatGPT are primary tools to help or complete their assignments. 

Among schools and teachers alike, there is great concern over students’ overdependence on A.I. Because of A.I’s accessibility, it can be tempting for students not to attempt their work by themselves and use these platforms to complete their assignments. Many teachers believe A.I. takes out the hard work required to learn subjects or write essays which are vital to college and professional life.

There are also worries about teachers using A.I. If teachers are using A.I to summarize materials and create lesson plans, then does that give students permission to use these platforms for their assignments?

As A.I rapidly evolves, schools around the country, including Maryvale, are looking to restructure their curriculums to incorporate A.I. 

To hear how students are using A.I, a poll was conducted among 32 Maryvale students, all from various grade levels. For privacy, all responses were anonymous.

Many respondents stated they used A.I to help understand difficult concepts. Three students mentioned that for difficult problems, they asked A.I to break the question down “step by step” in order to understand questions similar to the one they input. There were also many respondents who utilized A.I as a study tool. Multiple students responded that they ask A.I to make study guides with the imputed material. 

Only one student mentioned using A.I to help with their writing. This respondent stated they use A.I for coming up with ideas and for writing to make “ it sound better”. No respondent stated they use A.I to completely do their work. 

Because of the minimal pool of students, there are likely various ways A.I is utilized that was not covered.

But what A.I platforms do these students use? The most utilized platform by a landslide was ChatGPT, with 24 out of 32 respondents having used A.I. Other well-known platforms including Gemini (6 respondents) and CoPilot (5 respondents) were also common responses.

However, there were also many miscellaneous A.I platforms students used. Scattered throughout the responses were Gauth (3 respondents), Sora (2 respondents), Bing (1 respondent), and Grok (1 respondent). 

Alongside these platforms, students also utilize A.I within other apps. Three respondents mentioned they used Snapchat’s A.I,  One stated they used Instagram’s A.I, another used Canva’s A.I, and one used the A.I on Wix Website Editor. It is unsure if all of these platforms are used for assignments, but all showcase how A.I has been implemented in various websites.

Respondents were asked from a scale of one though ten, with one being not at all to ten being all the time, how tempted are they to use A.I. The responses were scattered, but many respondents placed themselves between the lower-middle to the upper-middle areas of the line. Most students marked themselves at four and seven (six respondents each) followed shortly at three with five respondents. 

There were two respondents that placed themselves at one and two respondents marked themselves a number higher. Only one student put themselves as nine and eight. None marked themselves at ten.

The majority of respondents stated that there were benefits to A.I. Many mentioned that A.I is “useful as an assistant” for assignments. One student expressed that A.I “can help teach students and fill in the gaps that teachers may not have explained well”. Another student mentioned that these platforms can adjust to her learning in order to explain information better.

Despite the aid students receive from these platforms, almost all respondents agreed that A.I platforms do have negative impacts. 

Many students highlighted the detrimental environmental impacts A.I causes. According to a study done by the University of California, Riverside, one 100 word prompt consumes about one bottle of water. Combined with the millions of people using A.I everyday, massive amounts of water is going to waste, and students do not want to contribute to environmental destruction.

Other students commented on the increasing dependence on A.I. One respondent explained that students “will depend on A.I. to think and do simple tasks,” and soon will “lose the ability to complete simple tasks for themselves”. Another respondent claimed that A.I has the potential to “replace hard work and critical thinking”.

Alongside the extreme environmental damage and the increasing dependence on A.I platforms, two respondents highlighted the amount of jobs A.I is taking away. According to National University, 13.7% of U.S workers claim they lost their jobs due to a robot or an A.I-driven automation. These respondents do not want to support a platform that takes away jobs from people struggling to support their families.

One respondent stated the fact best: “There is nothing AI can do that a human can’t.”

For better or worse, A.I is being implemented into millions of jobs, and students need to be prepared to use these platforms for their education and career. 

Because of these new advancements, Maryvale should teach students general ways A.I could be used within their future. Examples could include creating study guides, calculating wait times for certain processes, and finding sources for research papers.

Maryvale should emphasize that A.I should be used as an aid to help students, not as a tool to completely do their work. To ensure that students are not cheating on their assignments, teachers should use accurate A.I detectors. If A.I usage is detected, teachers should not automatically jump to conclusions and punish the student. Instead, the teacher should have a calm and open discussion that allows the student to explain and defend themselves.

Teachers should also lead by example for A.I usage. While teachers should be allowed to use A.I to come up with ideas for lesson plans or as one aspect in their assignment, they should not use A.I to completely create their assignments. If students see teachers fully relying on A.I to make their assignments, then students might feel it is acceptable to have their work done by A.I.

As A.I expands into all aspects of life, Maryvale needs to provide the education that helps students adapt to these changes. In a time where technology is seemingly taking over society and risking millions of jobs, students at Maryvale must learn how to appropriately use A.I in order stand out in their careers.