Read more about cheating in Bexley here and here.
*Names have been changed
Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly powerful role in education, leaving many to wonder if it can be a tool for teachers or a cop-out for students.
Student Ezra Walker* said he has used AI this year to cheat on assignments for various reasons. He used ChatGPT to write an essay for the first assignment in his social studies class because he was pressed for time.
“I procrastinated a lot at the beginning of the year,” Walker said. “The due date was within an hour, and it was the only thing that came to mind.”
Walker added it was very straightforward to use AI for the assignment, making the risky decision much easier.
“I looked at the prompt for the homework, and I pasted it into ChatGPT,” Walker said. “Then, I asked it to write me an essay and make it as non-robotic as possible. I printed it out and because I was in such a rush, I didn’t read it over and I turned it in. That is why I got caught.”
Social studies teacher Anna Schottenstein said she has tried to combat students using AI to cheat on assignments. She explained she pulled aside students who obviously used AI because it was flagged by detectors within the work submission systems on Canvas.
Originally, she said all of her assignments were mandatory, but because of AI, she made the assignments worth nothing if the students didn’t complete them instead of a zero.
“Instead of me fighting AI all year, I’ve shifted my entire course and how I assign work in order to make it more useful for students,” Schottenstein said. “In the future, I am likely going to continue to do what I am doing right now, where every single assignment is optional.”
She explained if a student turns in an assignment that was completed using AI, she will give the student a zero since the assignment was optional to begin with.
English teacher Chad Hemmelgarn said he encourages the use of AI for some assignments. He added he has allowed his students to use AI in certain tasks to make images, write stories, create speeches and come up with research questions.
“I think it levels the playing field between students who are creative and students who believe they are not creative,” Hemmelgarn explained. “I think it is an amazing tool that gives everyone a jump start.”
He added AI will impact students in the future both on a personal and economic level, which is not something to be ignored.
“It is here, kids use it and I want them to be informed users instead of secretive abusers,” Hemmelgarn said.
Student Brayden Allen* said he has used various types of AI throughout his high school career. Allen explained he has a subscription to Photomath Plus, which helps him complete his homework while also comprehending the material.
“It is very hard, in math especially, to find specific YouTube videos, and if you look up a problem that you need to learn, you can’t look up the exact problem,” Allen said. “So certain AI, like Photomath, makes it very easy to actually learn how to do the problem.”
Schottenstein said students have become so obsessed with their grades that they have missed out on the learning aspect of assignments. She explained that assignments are meant to teach them how to learn, but when students are hyper-focused on getting good grades, there is less focus on learning.
“There is a time and place for it,” Schottenstein said. “If you are using AI to do an entire assignment for you, then don’t do the assignment at all. If you are using AI in all your AP classes, then maybe you shouldn’t be in those AP classes.”
She added some colleges have even implemented new policies where students can be kicked out of the university for using AI because it is seen as academic dishonesty.
Schottenstein said similarly to Hemmelgarn she believes there are many benefits to AI when it comes to school work, such as using AI to provide inspiration and help to eliminate writer’s block, but using it to write essays is just another form of plagiarism.
“If you are struggling and feel like you have to turn to AI, instead of going to AI, go to your teacher because we would rather help you learn as opposed to you taking the easy way out and not being able to understand the material when it comes down to it,” Schottenstein said. “It only hurts you in the long run.”
Student vs. ChatGPT
One poem was written by a member of the Torch staff. The other was written by ChatGPT. Guess which is which!
Poem #1
The first crimson leaf begins to fall.
Quietly it drops to the ground above the bunny’s burrow
Let me wander through the forest and feel it all
Through my door I can see out the window down the hall
I see the breeze on the painted leaves and I know
the first crimson leaf begins to fall
I grab a leash and my dog’s ball
I think of seasons past as I don the boots I’ve outgrown
Let me wander through the forest and feel it all
My feet crunch on the trail as I begin to recall
beauty of summer past as it starts to slow.
The first crimson leaf begins to fall
Change in its beauty is coming to take the old, and won’t forestall
Reminiscing on seasons past and passing, my feelings overflow
Let me wander through the forest and feel it all
The past starts to scald
I feel the wind as it starts to blow
The first crimson leaf begins to fall
Let me wander through the forest and feel it all.
Poem #2
In nature’s arms, the seasons softly sway,
A dance of light, a symphony of grace,
Each moment spun in nature’s tender play.
From springtime’s bloom to summer’s bright display,
Through autumn’s hues, to winter’s cold embrace,
In nature’s arms, the seasons softly sway.
The gentle breeze whispers, come what may,
As trees reach high, their branches interlace,
Each moment spun in nature’s tender play
With every dawn, a new beginning lay,
A canvas painted with celestial lace,
In nature’s arms the seasons softly sway.
In fields of gold, where wildflowers array.
And rivers flow with gentle, rhythmic pace,
Each moment spun in nature’s tender play.
Oh, let us cherish every fleeting day,
As seasons change, leaving their trace,
In nature’s arms, the seasons softly sway,
Each moment spun in nature’s tender play.
Poem #2 was written by ChatGPT.
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