With a majority of students at Karns using AI in some form to help with their education, many wonder if it negatively affects their learning. As of 2025, approximately 54% of high school students use AI on a daily or weekly basis. Generative AI bots have helped students immensely by answering hyperspecific questions for an assignment and giving them the answers as a whole. Some argue that it can definitely be used to benefit learning — but what happens when something so accessible is used as a crutch in learning?
Students often use generative AI chatbots like chatgpt to help them better understand the subject of which they are learning, students like Cameron Pickmen. In that sense, AI can be used as a very powerful tool for studying.
“I dont use AI too often, but when I do, I use stuff like chatgpt or AI translate to help me study Spanish assignments,” Cameron said.
AI chatbots like chatgpt are particularly popular for its highly informed responses and the good back and forth it gives to its users when brainstorming a given topic. AI like this can spit out many solutions, some being a hit or miss with their latest update being that the responses are 88.1% accurate. This comes back to hurt students who treat AI like a genie — students who blindly trust that AI will give them an easy A. Students using AI chatbots to complete work are a new challenge to teachers, English teachers like John Cionfolo.
“Too many students think ‘oh I put in the prompt, get the answer and turn it in,’ when in real life it’s understanding not just the prompt you put in but proof reading and rereading what’s produced to make sure you actually address what needs to be addressed…” Cionfolo said.
Students who use AI to do the work for them tend to believe that it’s benefiting them by saving time, but don’t realize how this form of academic fraud is doing more harm than good for them in the long run. Without taking initiative and learning the material on their own, AI makes them dependent and takes away from their learning. Teachers like Joseph King agree with this sentiment with AI being used in such a way.
“Generally AI in any capacity if it does the thinking for you, then it’s a form of academic dishonesty,” King said.
Generative AI has a promising future as more are developed and it’s only so long before it’s implemented in education. The idea of students using AI in schoolwork is very nuanced with many good arguments for and against it in the future of schooling. However, too many students are taking advantage of such an innovative thing to the point that it’s genuine cheating and creates unoriginal and uninspired work.
