Inevitable future or doom? AI in the classroom

Nowadays, students use things like artificial intelligence to do everyday tasks, especially in school. But the real question is whether or not AI has a place in the classroom.

English teachers such as Steve Davidson and Reb Sibley don’t think so. They believe education without AI was better, and sometimes even without technology as a whole. And using AI when telling your students not to is hypocrisy. 

“The problem lies in its name, it’s artificial,” Davidson said. “That means somebody has created some chip somewhere and they’re using it. So anything, I believe, that’s artificial, is not going to do well.”

Even something created from human minds cannot mimic a human well enough. Before technology really integrated into our society, we had to rely on humans and ourselves for ideas and conversation. And you’re not going to get the same experience with a robot. 

“I write like I talk, and that can be seen as unprofessional and been misconstructed in so many different ways,” Sibley said, “So I will feed my emails through AI to help me sound more professional. But only when I’m struggling. Sometimes I take a step back and say I can do it myself.”

However, Chemistry teacher Nicholas Eadie and DECA sponsor Erin Saenz think that AI is an inevitable part of the future and try to embrace using it, but only in the correct ways. Not using it to cheat and do everything, but to help. 

“I think you can use AI to learn, or you can use it instead of learning.” Eadie said. 

Being presented with something new and unknown in class is common. Every student has a different way of learning, and the teacher cannot always get the information to every student during a class period. But, if students have an AI bot to have a conversation in their own way, everyone can learn and still be at the same level.  

“I think AI, if used properly by students, can be a fantastic tool, but you have to restrain yourself,” Saenz said, “So idea generation, fantastic idea. If you’re like, I have this idea to create a rocket ship to transport cheese to the moon. Cool, what do you call it? Well, put it into AI and you can generate a name. That’s not cheating, it’s assisting.”

Now, principal Joauquin Hernandez doesn’t think it is fully good or bad. It depends on how someone uses it. If it is used to cheat, that can be bad. However, if it is used to assist with things like research it can be good. 

“It’s 50-50, right,” Hernandez said, “I think they’re bad if all you do is rely on it and it does all the thinking for you and you become a slave to it. I think it’s good if you use it to improve yourself, if you use it to improve your language and vernacular, your ability, your depth of vocabulary.”