Recently, I was finishing some classwork when a girl from one of my teacher’s other classes came in. She took one look at the problem on the whiteboard before blatantly stating, “I don’t know how to do this.” Almost immediately, her friend turned to her and whispered, “Just use Photomath,” and of course, as is so common in school nowadays, she proceeded to pull out her phone and take a picture of the problem so that AI could find the answer for her. Photomath is just one example of artificial intelligence used by students in the classroom that, while quick and practical, wields a hidden, detrimental weapon — hindering students’ ability to problem solve, enforcing reliance on technology, and providing an easier way to cheat.
With the typing of a prompt and the pressing of a button, a student can have a fully completed essay –entirely fabricated by AI. All it takes is for a teacher to turn away from a laptop for a moment for a student to cheat and pass it off as their own work, thanks to generative AI platforms like ChatGPT. Students can then proceed to receive credit despite doing nothing, since it can be hard to distinguish a student’s work from that of an AI bot, and this can be very unfair and upsetting for students who pour all their effort into getting the same grade.
As a high school student, I have heard instances of cheating using AI from other students, and often hear the whispers of “Yeah, I don’t know how to do it; I just used AI.” At Hatboro-Horsham, the district expects that students will use AI “only as directed” and will “maintain academic integrity by submitting original work,” as per a recent school district policy set into effect in 2025. However, I highly doubt students who wish to successfully cheat will simply admit straight-up to using AI. And while AI has its benefits if used as a supplement for independent work, some students simply don’t have the boundaries to prevent themselves from using AI to do all their work for them, and students are bound to try to use AI to cheat as long as it is an accessible source.
Teachers often view students in a negative light surrounding academic honesty, often questioning how legitimate we are about the origins of our work. However, if it weren’t for the school’s allowance of AI in the first place, teachers would not need to be as cynical of us and the legitimacy of our work, and they would not need to spend as much time trying to identify cheating. On top of this, students who put a lot of effort into completing their work on their own would not have to be questioned simply because teachers suspect people are cheating, and they could instead receive the credit they deserve.
Before you conclude that the negative effects of generative AI only come from the large and popular platforms, like ChatGPT and Gemini, and, therefore, certain AI services should still be allowed in the classroom, it is crucial to understand that all forms of AI limit students’ ability to be independent and think for themselves. This even includes educational platforms, like MagicSchool AI and Class Companion.
A study by the University of Pennsylvania published in The Student Journal of Information Privacy Law found that while artificial intelligence assistance can help students do better on practice problems in school than students who don’t use AI, they actually “scored 17 percent worse on a test of the topic that the students were learning.”
Since AI can give answers whenever needed, and it is almost always available in a school setting; some students may not truly engage in the material being taught. The availability of AI for quick answers appeals to students and can lead to a type of dependency where, whenever things get tough, AI is turned to for answers. If students become dependent on these technologies and are not personally engaged in the material, without AI, they will struggle.
Similarly, with the use of “educational” AI platforms, if students always have AI review their essays and other work for them, they may not know how to self-check and identify problems on their own, which is outrageous, given that these are essential skills students need to have. Students’ reliance on AI, developed by the unrestricted access they have to AI in the classroom, can then cause them to lose the ability to think for themselves. Do you really want to be the reason that students struggle with something much like addiction — unable to do anything without the assistance of AI — and can’t think independently or be successful in the future?
The current policy for AI at Hatboro-Horsham is unreasonable and unrealistic, expecting students to only use AI as instructed while knowing perfectly well that some students won’t stop doing what they want unless they are met with certain measures. And while the policy states that failure to comply will result in action, this action never seems to be taken, so students don’t have an incentive to stop using AI to cheat. Either your policies need to become stricter than naively trusting students not to cheat, AI use on school devices needs to be truly monitored, true repercussions for misuse need to be implemented or AI platforms need to be met with a full ban on school devices.
Don’t be the reason cheating becomes exponentially easier.
Don’t be the reason the younger generations are dependent on robots and fake intelligence.
Don’t be the reason the younger generations are unable to be successful on their own.
Don’t condemn us to a future of reliance.
For our sake, ban AI.
Sincerely,
Molly O’Connell, Class of 2028
