Since the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become more prevalent across the country, the question of how pressing of an issue its use is at Heritage has arisen.

Teachers across campus have been encountering the active use of AI among students for as long as it has been an issue. Many find the use of the technology to be disruptive to the learning experience and a way for students to finish their assignments faster and easier without all the time and effort being put into it.

The extent to which the use of AI in the classroom setting is an issue that has been highly exaggerated, especially with new methods of detecting its use being long in place.

In the setting of a classroom, methods of detecting the use of AI range from using Google Chrome extensions as well as an understanding from previously knowing the level of vocabulary and grammar among students.

“AI has impacted [English] because I do find students using it to cheat, especially on essays or assignments that they were not prepared to complete,” said ninth grade English teacher Madison Dean. “It is helpful for some students if they have their ideas and need to expand on [them] but sometimes they don’t know how to use it that way.”

Michael Gaucin (9) said, “[There is the] person who actually studies and actually knows the material and does it themselves [and there is] the person who uses AI [and] just puts it into a computer.”

There are arguments to be made against the use of AI and arguments for the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence. However, its use provides an unfair advantage for students who need to make up for a lack of proper planning or a lack of effort. Those who do spend the time and effort to put in the work on their assignments will gain the experience and skills needed for life after high school while AI reliant students may find difficulty in scenarios where the use of AI will be unavailable to them.

“You can see the differences in their patterns of speech and their patterns of writing versus AI,” said Dean. “AI has a specific format. It is an issue because you run into plagiarism and students are just full on copying. It’s not fair to people who do work hard.”