I realize some educators may consider any student use of AI (artificial intelligence) to automatically qualify as cheating. I disagree. AI is merely a tool, not inherently good or bad on its own. How AI is used, and within what limits, is what matters.
Research Papers
For example, if a student prompts an AI model to write a 20 page term paper about the Yom Kippur War, and then submits the paper as his own work saying “I wrote this on my own” – well then, yes, that certainly qualifies as cheating. But what if instead, the student uses AI to search for additional information and resources, cites his sources properly in a paper that he writes himself, using his own judgment and creativity? That is not cheating – that is a wise use of available research tools in preparation of a term paper.
Math and Science Homework
As a tutor, I make frequent use of AI. Sometimes I use it to get additional information and perspective on how to solve tough problems. Sometimes I use it to find information on how best to help special needs students. Most often I use it to generate additional practice problems e.g. “provide 10 practice math problems on the topic of quadratic equations.” I often encourage my students to use AI wisely in this manner to get additional practice material for the subject that they are studying. This is not cheating – it is wise use of an available, useful tool to enhance the student’s learning process.
I recall once assigning a student to write a simple computer program to help with solving a math problem to graph an equation in polar coordinates. This would involve a simple for loop to go from zero to 360 degrees, calculating r (the radius) at each angle. It should be a simple matter to direct an AI model to write this code, making the assignment go even faster. The thought process still needs to be clearly spelled out by the human, but AI automates some of the mechanical drudgery or writing such code. Again, I don’t consider this cheating, so long as a student states that they used AI to complete the task and the prompt that they used to instruct AI appropriately. This is merely a good use of available tools to automate processes that do not require human thought and creativity.
Artwork to Enhance Written Material
Sometimes, for school projects, or a journal article or book, artwork is warranted. What if you’re not a professional artist? AI can help! I’ve used AI to generate art for Instagram posts as well as for my book Smart Suggestions for Student Success. Admittedly, the AI-generated artwork is not always exactly what I had in mind, but it is sufficient for the purposes that I intended. Again, if I were teaching a class in say, political science, and my student used AI to generate graphics or artwork for a paper, I would not consider that cheating, but rather wise use of available tools.
Encourage Wise, Ethical Use of AI
We should be encouraging students to embrace and wisely use the best of modern technology, rather than teaching them to fear or disparage it. A tool is not inherently good or evil, it is use dependent. For example, a weapon in the hands of an honorable soldier or police officer can be used to defend the innocent. In the hands of a criminal, it can be used for nefarious purposes.