The average Pioneer High School student has friends. These students probably have friends who have asked them to review an essay and give feedback. You yourself have probably read something that seems unnatural and soulless and have found yourself thinking: No way a high school student can come up with such eloquent language, especially when they have over one hundred absences and sleep in the first three hours of the day. That’s because most of the time they didn’t write it. It was made with artificial intelligence. A simple prompt was put in and what you read was spit out in a matter of seconds.
AI has been a controversial topic that no one seems to agree on. Some teachers hate it, others openly admit to using it.
As a 12th grade student with two language teachers as parents who takes pride in my writing, AI has been a resource I have considered turning to after restless hours of Love Island or doom scrolling when a four page literary analysis essay was on the back burner of my brain. Although the quick copy and paste was helpful, no matter how I doctored the language, it always seemed to sound flat and dull.
The truth is AI is not able to replicate the creativity a human has. Ideas in a person’s mind flow in ways that computers are programmed not to. Some of the greatest minds were unlocked in an era where artificial intelligence was science fiction. As someone whose dad is a big Sci-Fi nerd, I grew up reading books he gave me about the dangers of AI. The worst case scenarios where machines develop hatred towards humans and mankind if doomed. The websites that are so easily accessed now with a simple search were thought to be impossible, and something of the imagination even 40 years ago to nerds like my dad.
AI is commonly referred to as a study tool, or a resource to students for a time of struggle with a subject in many teachers’ 25-26 syllabi, but for teachers to have faith in students to only use it for a question when things like google are available, they will be met with disappointment.
The reason why AI is noticeable is because it takes out the personal aspect of writing. AI is artificial and unable to express true emotion, feeling and interest that a student’s writing may.
Last year, Pioneer’s English department hosted its annual Literary SArts Award which I submitted a short two page fiction to. The idea of my story was of a cruel girl who enjoyed “maneating” her teachers. She would reel them in with allure and lust, and then ruin their careers, just for the love of doing it. I ended up winning third place in the category, and therefore a $25 gift card.
When I turned to AI to help me formulate ideas for the language, it came up with refined words, articulate metaphors, and graceful structure that did not match the tone of the story. I wasn’t looking to use words such as “vengeful” and “malevalent” to describe an eleventh grader filled with rage. I wanted to use words that showed emotion without seeming over the top and unrealistic.
The truth is when students turn towards AI for all of their academic needs, there is a sense of personality and individual thinking that is lost. This pattern may continue and be detrimental to the development of student’s careers and minds. AI can never replicate the creativity that young minds bring to the table. For me, it was the approach to a teenage mind twisted with revenge. When AI had its go at formulating a story, it was flat and uninteresting. Without the originality of today’s future’s ideas, the academic world is at jeopardy, creativity is being decimated, and people are losing their spark of imagination.