This Teacher Caught Her Quiet Student Talking To A ChatGPT Tool Like It's Their Friend, And More Teachers Are Revealing The Scary Ways AI Has Affected Their Classroom

ChatGPT — a generative AI tool that creates human-like conversational content based on human feedback — has received both praise and critiques from leaders in the education system. We asked real-life teachers how they feel about ChatGPT and AI tools and how their classrooms have been impacted — for better or worse.

Here are their honest responses:

1."Students were already struggling to think critically after COVID shutdowns. It’s a trauma response. Now, however, students who would have copied Wikipedia are using ChatGPT to generate written responses."

"My team and I now check the document history, but some kids just type their responses. We have had to adjust how we assess AGAIN. I am truly worried about my students — they're often disenfranchised as it is. Now there is a machine to provide them with answers (even though those answers are 50% AT BEST)."

—Anonymous

2."I've been an English teacher for 30 years now. Here's the problem I see with ChatGPT and AI: It's eliminating people's ability to think. Critical thinking skills are at an all-time low, and though it started with the push for standardized testing, it's much worse with these tools. Students don't seem to understand that learning is about the journey, not the destination (the grade). They have AI write their papers for them, and they haven't actually learned anything at all."

3."It. is. AWFUL. I teach high school, and it has become increasingly clear that nothing these kids submit is original; their work is either from AI, cheating, or both. These children do not have an original thought in their heads. I have literally watched kids in real time (through monitoring software) email their friends their AI-generated papers and ask them to edit them because it's coming up as 50% AI on Turnitin, and then multiple friends work on it and edit it until it reads as more 'original.'"

"I have watched kids have ChatGPT write their college essays, college short answer prompts, reflection papers, and short answer questions for honor societies, scholarships, etc., and I'm not talking editing or polishing grammar; I mean writing it from scratch and then copying and pasting it into their applications word for word. It should come as no shock that most of the same kids who ChatGPT their way through all written work are the same kids bombing tests or tests in which they can't cheat or finesse their way to high grades through test corrections or extra credit or other BS like an open book and open notes."

—Anonymous

4."I had this one student who was quiet and didn't have many friends. I then found out that he talks to some sort of AI chat tool like it's his friend. I sat down and had a talk with him and asked him, 'Why do you talk to the computer instead of real people?' His response was, 'Because unlike real kids, AI knows stuff.' I felt terrible for a couple of minutes, and then I realized he said, 'unlike real kids.' He called the chat tool a kid."

5."I’m looking kids in the face and telling them to look up sources for a group project, and there’s nothing happening, and these kids are the magnet, high scholastic students."

"They don’t understand why they can’t just use the Google AI results. They have been failed. I, a health/personal fitness teacher, am out here teaching them how to find legitimate sources and trustworthy information online. Also, knowing the environmental impact of AI, so I don’t use it."

—demons

6."I'm a high school English teacher, and we're struggling to find our way. Our students still need to learn critical thinking skills, and AI offers them quick-response yet vapid answers. When students use it, it completely undermines the work of the students who don't, and as a result, we have to go backward and get them to hand-write everything in timed conditions. This isn't ideal as it then doesn't help those who find that so hard."

"We're trying to teach the students how to use it 'properly' and interact with it and still remain critical and evaluative in their usage. However, when you're 17, it's difficult to see the long-term skills reduction that using AI and not working things out yourself can do. We keep trying to explain that if you can use AI to get an answer, so can an employer, so why would they employ you? But that's tough."

—s rain

7."As a high school dance teacher, it helps me create written lessons that align with the physical ones I do to provide for injured students who can't dance or to reinforce the physical lesson into the brain academically. I can also use it to help make the dance history or terminology lessons more interactive and interesting."

"AI is not going anywhere. It is up to us (one more thing to do), society, not just teachers, to educate students on how to use it responsibly and not just to cheat. It's a great resource to use to outline projects or essays. It can be great for research. However, we need to teach students to verify what the AI provides to encourage accuracy and factual assignment completion."

—Anonymous

8."I'm a ninth-year ELA teacher who has taught middle and high school. AI is a nightmare. First, no one should be using AI because of its disastrous environmental impact and exploitation of POC. Second, it has severely impacted my students' reading and writing abilities. They don't want to learn to analyze; they want AI to summarize the text for them and tell them what to think."

9."High school art teacher here. My students were surprisingly against it, as they felt art jobs were going to be replaced by AI. In fact, it's the opposite. AI is just another art medium (similar to the camera, digital art, graphic design, etc.). Generated images can contribute to student brainstorming and creativity as long as students are aware that they serve simply as inspiration, cannot be turned in as their own, and recognize flaws that exist."

"If teachers can work with AI, become comfortable with models, and properly teach it to their students, then it is a great tool! If they refuse, well…then they are doing a disservice to their students because AI is the present AND the future. You learn to adapt."

—Anonymous

10."My fellow coworker and I use ChatGPT and other AI tools to create stories that focus on our science standards. We have a whole series now that students look forwarding to hearing about and what adventure the main character will go on next! ChatGPT writes the stories for us, and an AI image generator helps create a picture all within 5–10 minutes."

—Anonymous

11."When it comes to prep work, ChatGPT is a dream! Whenever I don't quite know how to make a difficult topic more interesting for my students, ChatGPT is there for the rescue."

12."My district uses a program called MagicSchool. At my old job, I was spending three to five hours a week lesson planning, and more if I had to look for additional resources to complement our curriculum. Now, in half an hour, I can create grade-level content with a rigorous depth of knowledge that will serve for a week’s worth of lessons, in addition to tests and review materials. I also struggle with how to word sensitive emails to parents, and the program will take what I want to say and craft a message that won’t piss off anyone. That used to occupy a solid 30 minutes."

—Anonymous

And finally...

13."It makes grading papers take twice as long because you have to take the time to search all of the likely locations on the internet to make sure students aren't cheating. Beyond that, it's not fair to the students who actually try and put in the work. It's sad for them and sad for the kids who are cheating because, at the end of the day, they are simply stunting their own development."

—Anonymous

Students, we want to know your opinions on ChatGPT and AI tools in the classroom. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or in this anonymous Google form.