AI is causing more reform in education than any innovation in recent history. From writing essays for you to checking your grammar, AI can be a powerful tool, or it can remove your ability to be educated. While some students here at Kirkwood rely on it for simple uses like grammar checking or brainstorming, an equal amount use it to do all their assignments for them. The rise in AI puts into question how people can learn in an era where everything you need to know can be found online.
According to The New York Times, more than half of all students have used AI for at least one assignment. When used responsibly AI can actually be a useful feedback tool. The issue is when people use it to do all their assignments without putting in any effort.
Many professors here at Kirkwood acknowledge that AI can be a useful tool if students understand the limits. A 2024 Inside Higher Ed survey found that a majority of college professors worry AI can weaken creativity and critical thinking. Students that have an unhealthy reliance on AI weaken their ability to do things themselves, and they could slowly lose the ability to write and create on their own.
Part of the problem is that as children a standard for getting the correct answer is set. Once a new tool that gets you the correct answer with little to no effort, students are going to take advantage, especially if out of time or when there are more important things to do with their day.
At the end of the day AI may be used for bad things like stealing art, allowing your peers a way to skip the effort you tire yourself of doing and creating malicious content. The challenge for Kirkwood students is deciding if you want to use this new tool as a replacement for effort, or a new way to amplify your effort.
Categories: Contributed, Opinion
