Academia seems to rely more and more on technology over the past few years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, AI seems to take center stage in these discussions. This impacts how students study, for better or for worse.
First, what is AI? AI is defined by the National Artificial Intelligence Act of 2020 as “a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments”(AI). It seems to be an answer to Turing’s question posed in his 1950 paper, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”-”Can machines think?” (Turing). AI is believed to have begun to exist in the year 1951, the year after Turing’s paper. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the first successful AI program was written by British computer scientist Christopher Strachey, and ran checker games (Copeland). Since then, AI has existed in many different forms. One form that has attracted much attention is Chat GPT, though other kinds have existed beforehand.
The main debate around AI in a classroom context was summarized by Stanford Political scientist Rob Reich: “Is generative AI comparable to the calculator in the classroom, or will it be a more detrimental tool?” (Chen). Proponents claim the possible load it might take off teachers as well as feedback it could give them. Skeptics worry that AI is more concerned with speed and coherence than accuracy, as well as lacking the ability for nuance. The department of Education has stated, “They [educators] are further exploring how AI can enable writing or improving lessons, as well as their process for finding, choosing, and adapting material for use in their lessons” (Artificial).
I don’t use AI to do assignments. However, I find my teachers more careful when assigning writing assignments. They warn that if they saw it was AI generated, offending students would get a zero. As a result, I find myself worrying how “human” my responses are, despite knowing that they are. As machine learning advances, It might become more difficult to tell what is human and what isn’t. However, I don’t think we need to think of AI as an educational advisory. The question becomes the difference between using AI to study and cheating. AI is a tool, and like all tools, people need to learn to use it correctly. If the school system taught us how to use it right, they wouldn’t need to treat is as some sort of enemy,
In conclusion, AI hasn’t affected my studying personal habits too much, even if it has affected the way schools run. However, considering AI is becoming ingrained into nearly every aspect of life, it makes sense to incorporate it into the education system to our advantage. If the education system can adapt to this technology, it could be greatly improved.

Works Cited
“Artificial Intelligence.” The Office of Educational Technology
, https://tech.ed.gov/ai/. Accessed 25 November, 2023.
“Artificial Intelligence (AI).” U.S Department of State, https://www.state.gov/artificial-intelligence/. Accessed 22 November 2023.
Chen, Claire. “AI Will Transform Teaching and Learning. Let’s Get it Right.” Stanford University,
9 March 2023. https://hai.stanford.edu/news/ai-will-transform-teaching-and-learning-lets-get-it-right.
Copeland, B.J. “Artificial Intelligence.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 November, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/technology/artificial-intelligence#ref219078.
Turing, Alan M. “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” Mind, 1950, Oxford Academic, https://academic.oup.com/mind/article/LIX/236/433/986238.