Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming education at an unprecedented rate, reshaping school systems, classrooms and student behavior. By enabling machines to analyze data, learn patterns and emulate creative activities such as writing, educators view generative AI as a disruptive technology that has diminished incentives to get students invested in their learning and academic growth. Although AI can certainly support academic success, its misuses, which can range from generating completed writing assignments to bypassing plagiarism checks, pose challenges to student growth and academic integrity. Educators worry that if AI becomes less of a tool and more of crutch, a path that seems possible as student AI use skyrockets, this dependency will ultimately diminish autonomy, creativity and critical thinking as students rely on generated content instead of developing their own ideas.
Read the full article by OCCRL research assistant Naomi Simmons Thorne, published by The Forum on the Future of Higher Education.