By Benedict Lam

When I was in year 7, I distinctly remember a teacher telling the entire class not to use AI for their homework and assessments. I also remember being curious about the reasons that the teacher was against the use of AI. And what was AI anyway?

Well, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “AI is the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings.” Since AI can be capable of performing tasks that humans can also do, I believe that it can be a valuable form of assistance for students. However, some teachers believe that the usage of AI is a form of plagiarism, as it allows the student to simply obtain the answer without using their own thinking.

Both perspectives have helped me understand how AI can be used in education, providing me with an opportunity to evaluate the use of AI for learning. Considering both the upsides and downsides of AI, I have come to the conclusion that the advantages of using AI in education outweigh the disadvantages.

At home, I have two younger siblings whom I tried to teach. This was a challenging experience, as it was my first time doing so, and they had a limited attention span due to their age. I tried lots of different teaching methods, including printing worksheets, following a textbook approach, and writing on a whiteboard. However, none of the methods above were effective. Seeking alternative methods, I asked others for advice and discovered the usefulness of using AI in teaching. After asking the AI, “How do I help my students retain their knowledge?” I was provided a list of intriguing methods and techniques that I found helpful for keeping my siblings engaged. Using one of the suggested methods, I was able to successfully teach my siblings and help them gain a deeper understanding of what they were learning. This experience made me realize that AI is not only capable of assisting with students’ learning, but also with lesson planning for teachers and educators.

While AI might not be capable of creating a plan for a large number of students, it can offer personalized feedback to each individual student. This can increase student engagement in learning, as well as allow them to learn at their own pace. However, even as students start to engage in learning, some may struggle with time management. For instance, when students are conducting research for their essay, they will need to sift through numerous web sources to determine its relevance and timeliness, which is time-consuming and requires an effective time management skill. However, according to Medium, a platform with contributions from global experts, “AI can automate the initial drafting to reduce task time by 50% or more in many cases”. This shows that students can have 50% more time for planning and writing their essays. Therefore, this can lead to increased productivity and help students develop a deeper understanding of the essay’s content and purpose in relation to their learning.

AI can also enhance the productivity of feedback provided by teachers and educators. According to an article published by the New York Times, “AI is designed to complete repetitive tasks which are prone to human error”. Therefore, I believe that AI should be capable of assisting teachers with providing feedback, as it is generally a repetitive and tedious task. Since each student’s level of understanding varies, the feedback for each student will be different, and the teacher will need to spend differing amounts of time giving feedback. Additionally, teachers generally have a large number of students to give feedback to, which can decrease the quality of the feedback, as well as the productivity of the teacher. Therefore, I believe that AI can be used to support teachers to complete this task, which also ensures students receive personalized feedback.

However, despite the many benefits that AI can provide for students and teachers, it also has some drawbacks. Younger students, such as those in primary, may have a relatively weak judgment ability, leading them to inappropriately utilize AI. For example, they might copy and paste the output generated by the AI without giving it a second thought. This may lead to them over-relying on AI, plagiarizing directly from it rather than using it as a means of research. However, older students, such as those in university, will likely have a better sense of judgement, being aware of the distinction between using AI as a means of research rather than directly plagiarizing from it. I believe the use of AI in education is inevitable. While plagiarism is a concern, we can prevent this by properly educating younger students on how to use AI in an effective and ethical manner. This would also align with the official statement from the International Baccalaureate, where they express that they “will adapt and transform our educational programmes and assessment practices so that students can use these new AI tools ethically and effectively.” This demonstrates that there is already widespread acceptance of educational AI use.

Therefore, I believe that our focus should be on educating students on how to prevent plagiarism and warning against overreliance on AI, rather than banning it directly, as I firmly believe that the advantages of using AI significantly outweigh the disadvantages. If we chose to ban AI, we would not only be increasing our own workload, but also be preventing ourselves from utilising a valuable and effective learning tool new to the 21st century.