It’s no secret that students are starting to experiment with AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the popularity of generative AI seems to only be increasing. In 2023, 52% of students admitted to using AI and in 2024, 59% percent of students admitted to using AI. Today, more than 85% of students use AI for schoolwork. The hard question that is being asked is: Is the use of AI for students beneficial or not? The answer isn’t just a simple yes or no as there are a lot of ways that AI can be beneficial for students and many ways that it can be harmful. When students use AI, they have complete freedom to ask it to do anything they want to do. Students have the choice to use AI responsibly or to completely cheat. As AI gets researched more and more we will eventually completely understand whether it is a good tool for students to use or not.

 

One major benefit of AI usage is how AI can be used to cater toward any student and how that student learns. For example, if a student learns better visually, a generative AI model can provide an image instantly. Concepts that are harder to understand through just words can be made much easier to understand with a simple diagram. While teachers can also do the same, the instantaneous response that comes from an AI model saves time which could be used for enhanced learning in class. As of September 2025, ChatGPT takes 2-25 seconds to generate any image on a standard computer. Another big way that AI can support students is generating audio. This is a w.c. way to help any student that is dyslexic or has any trouble reading. AI can also make learning more fun and entertaining for students. One thing that is currently being developed, is AI models that can create simulations through virtual reality. Imagine a time in the future where students could essentially ‘visit’ a time from the past to help them with a history assignment or where students could ‘dissect’ an animal for biology class. This advancement in AI would be a real game changer for building passion and interest in students. The capabilities of AI models will only increase in the future and AI has the potential to be an amazing tool for students to use.

 

Using AI to help a student only happens if that student understands that they need to use AI responsibly.  From some students' perspectives, AI is something that can do their work for them. 15% of students that use AI, use it to cheat (completely copying or submitting AI generated responses). Now that students know that AI can completely do their work, they don’t have to do any work and don’t have to put effort into their classes. This is a problem because cheating by using AI will only hurt a student's future. Habitual use of AI also leads to a dependence on technology. Studies have shown that using AI again and again leads to slower development of critical thinking and research skills. Students will also start to make negative comparisons with their ideas and AI generated ideas. Dependence on AI can develop very quickly and soon become second nature for students. Educating students on the risks of AI should be a top priority for the school board so that students can be prepared for their futures and so they can learn how to use AI responsibly.

 

It looks like AI isn’t going to disappear anytime soon and as the development and research of AI increases, so do the career options. Studies have shown that by 2030, 30-50 million job opportunities will be created from the AI field. Using AI builds technological skills in students which can be really a really useful skill for students that are interested in pursuing a career in AI. Using AI also gets students to learn the limitations of AI and when and when not to use it. Building these skills at a young age will give a huge advantage in the future. If students wish to pursue an AI driven career path, they must be comfortable with integrating AI into their everyday tasks such as data analysis, computer programming, etc. People always say that AI will replace this job or AI will replace that job, but the one job that AI will never replace is the people that work on developing and researching AI itself and that is why using AI is a major step towards pursuing a career path in the AI field.

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AI is still in its early stages and so naturally,  it is not perfect. For instance, AI has been proven to have biases in its responses. One example is when Amazon was experimenting with AI in early 2018: they built their own AI model and trained it to hire people for their company. The AI model was found to discriminate against female job applicants which led to Amazon shutting down this project. AI can only provide information it was trained with, and if the information it was trained with had any kind of bias, the responses will naturally have prejudices. This is why students cannot always rely on AI especially when its responses are biased. Moreover, there have been many instances where AI models have simply provided incorrect information to a user, like when AI models provide a made-up book as its source (https://www.npr.org/2025/05/20/nx-s1-5405022/fake-summer-reading-list-ai). When this happens, a student wouldn’t make sure that the book is real, instead they would trust the AI without a second thought. A lot of people are also concerned about the privacy risks that AI poses for schools. AI collects and ‘remembers’ any information that you have given it. If a student makes the mistake of giving AI personal information such as an address, the AI will never truly ‘forget’ that information. It is essential for students to learn to be safe with AI and to never put their complete trust into it.

 

Only time will tell if AI will be beneficial to students or not. As more studies and research is conducted, the solution to irresponsible AI usage will become more clear. Today, AI is not perfect and should definitely not be trusted completely.  AI can also prove to be a very useful tool for students. It is a huge time saver and can make learning more fun for students, but that also comes with biases and data privacy concerns. We don’t have the answer to whether AI is a good or bad thing and there will likely never be a simple yes or no answer. That’s why it is the responsibility of students and school boards to be weary of AI while at the same time, taking advantage of a tool that can be helpful.