Over time, as the education system has grown, school has become less about teaching and learning as it is about retaining good grades. The grades that people have in high school can so highly decide how their next few years will turn out, that it has made it so that each school year goes the exact same way. Learn. Test. Forget.
Since student’s grades are now accessible anytime, whether it is on a computer or phone, it makes it so that they are consistently on our minds. A bad grade is no longer something that you see at the end of the week, or whenever papers are passed back. Instead, it becomes a notification on an online gradebook that can decide your mood in seconds. Students now don’t just worry about learning and applying the content anymore—they worry about how each assignment will affect their grade average.
This also affects teachers and the amount of work that they may need to do in terms of grading. When students can see their grades immediately after they are released, it is now more common for students to immediately email teachers about grade changes or possibly grade boosts. With more constant requests from students worried about grades, it puts more pressure on teachers to make decisions about what to do about assignments and possible grade changes. One of the problems with such decisions is that students, due to the constant grade pressure, are now relying more on the use of AI to do work and study for tests, causing some teachers to change how they view and grade work.
The two main types of students who use AI are ones that use it for studying and review, and the ones that just use it to complete assignments. The main issue is with the students that use it solely for turning in work, as it causes problems for both peers and teachers. If the students who use AI for their work don’t get caught, or they get straight A’s, it could cause other students that actually do the work to get frustrated. On the other hand, it means that teachers have to decide what to do with students who don’t actually do their work.
This creates a type of environment where students are not only competing with others, but also with technology. When AI completes assignments in seconds, it gives students a tempting shortcut that they can use, especially when they feel overwhelmed with grades and classwork. So now, instead of learning, students focus on turning in assignments that look correct. The grade still shows technical success, but students may not actually understand the material, defeating the actual purpose of education.
AI itself is not always harmful, as it can be used to help with studying and reviewing concepts for basically all topics. The real problem is that the school system is now so focused on grades that students feel forced to prioritize their results over learning. If schools were to fix these issues, they would need to reward growth and understanding more than just good scores. Otherwise, students will stay stuck in the same trap, except AI is now doing more of the work for them.
