TO USE AI OR TO STUDY?

 

It is a school assignment requiring at least 8 hours to complete, or three days, as most students have other things to do in a day. Jack the student panicked.

“But…I have only two hours to hand-in-deadline! What the heck, this is 2026…and it can be done! It’s AI time!”

And so, within the next few moments, Jack the student has a brand new completed assignment courtesy of artificial intelligence, AI, complete with citations and references – ready for hand-in. And Jack submits his assignment with one hour to spare. Life is easier now in this area. Indeed it is, but let’s look at the use of AI instead of original study material in educational settings, in this article.

Artificial intelligence, AI, is one of the most revolutionary of modern digital capacities. When the internet is invoked to provide an answer, it uses AI to scan material (that is already online) that carries information on the given subject. It then presents that information on the screen. Sooo painless!

If you were in Jack’s shoes, you would hardly be faulted for doing exactly what Jack did. Let’s face it, there were only two hours left before the tutor stops accepting assignment submissions. There were only two possibilities in Jack’s case. If Jack did not submit, that would be an outright fail. If he submitted compliments of AI, the tutor may not recognize it as AI work and may award a score, any score. Most likely a passing score. So, is this article saying AI is the way forward in school work? Hold your smile. Not so.

Firstly, the aim of education is to train people who when they leave college or university can help make the world a better place to live in. That is only possible if the graduates really know their work, and not if their passes were brought by AI. Students themselves need to take pride in researching and getting to understand the material in their programmes. They need to be proud that the paper they get on graduating does represent what they know.

Secondly, it is unlikely that when an AI-assisted assignment is marked, the student will sit down and now try to understand the content. It means that knowledge is missed. There is no motivation to read what AI generated once the assignment has served its purpose of saving the student from a pure fail.

Thirdly, AI is not without weakness. Studies have shown that while it can be very accurate, it is not totally reliable. It is “artificial” intelligence, remember? That is not to say natural intelligence is totally reliable. We can look at one example. AI could generate an essay but some references may not be valid. This is less likely if it is a human being researching.

 Fourthly, AI work could be recognized. Let’s go back to Jack’s story. Supposing ten other students had used AI, and the internet had generated almost exactly the same report, would the tutor not sense something fishy and investigate? Well, that may result serious punitive action. Some might say this would still be a better option than not submitting. Probably. But what if the tutor now starts giving you lower scores than you deserve, in your future work, because they suspect you are a traditional user of AI? Some educators never forget.

A fifth consideration is that AI has the potential to discourage studying. So, in a physically-supervised examination, the student may not have a clue what to write. If that is the component of the continuous assessment that carries the bulk of the marks, the student may not pass overall.

Artificial Intelligence is extremely useful in many spheres of life - and to Jack the student. However, education institutions seek to transfer knowledge from the source (lecturer, book, other publications) to the student. The student will later put that knowledge on paper (or prepare it in soft form) and present it to the tutor in an assignment or examination to show how much they understand of what they learned.

So, the movement is source-to-student-to-paper. If AI is used, this movement is short-circuited. It becomes source-to-paper. It leaves out the central figure, the student, who is at an institution to learn. The student does not learn in this case. And the student themselves must see that the purpose of being a student is defeated.

When the student is not learning, it means the educators are not achieving their objectives. This is why institutions discourage and punish unauthorized use of AI.

So how is AI useful to the student? Well, students can always turn to AI for quick, everyday clarifications. It is a useful tool. It just should not be used in assignments where more grounded information is required. More importantly, where the student has to get to “know” the subject well, for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world they live in as a whole.

Thank you for reading this article. If you are a student, be a good student. Use AI, but not in assignments and examinations. Learn the stuff. Be the light of the world.