1. AI can absolutely be used as a study tool. It can create flashcards and quizzes to help better a student’s understanding of a topic while simultaneously saving time as the student does not have to manually create these things themselves. 

2. AI can make hard concepts easier to digest by breaking them down into more manageable parts (ok, computational thinking, I see you). For instance, students can ask these chatbots to “explain cosigns like I am a toddler,” and the chatbot will explain the concept easier than it was taught to the student or understood by them. 

Concerns: 

1. As an English major, a lot of us are extremely disapproving of these chatbots. Additionally, being a student myself, I know what using a chatbot is like, and it is not helpful. Students can become entirely too dependent on these chatbots, so much so that the learning experience is downgraded, and often, students don’t actually learn anything. Rather than asking the chatbot to make flashcards, students will ask the chatbot just to do the work since it is there and willing to do it. It’s a slow transition. Students don’t want to make flashcards by hand because it takes too long, so they rely on a chatbot to do so. Then, once students have become used to that, they find studying boring and time-consuming altogether, which influences them to get the work done easily by having something else do it. 

2. AI chatbots almost always present some type of altered and untrue data. AI chatbots pull on all available sources, even if those sources are proven to be misinformation. From this, even if students are still focused on learning, they could unknowingly be learning something that is not true, just made up by a chatbot.

• AI can help students understand more complex ideas by explaining them in terms that students may be able to understand. A funny example of this is one of my younger cousins asked ChatGPT to explain the first French Revolution in Fortnite terms, and it did a fairly decent job.

• One of the things mentioned in the videos for today was the idea of accessibility, as not all students may have access to the same physical content that other students do. However, LLMs like ChatGPT have access to (somewhat) consistent sources, enabling students greater access to materials.

Concerns about AI:

• One of the largest concerns I have about AI as a history major (so a liberal art), is that many AI models will return summaries of events that are deprived of much nuance. I think that the humanities are some of the most valuable things taught to us as students, as it encourages reading below the surface, understanding things through one's own lens. However, most importantely, I think most importantly, is that liberal arts often force people to see beyond themselves, becoming more empathetic in the process. By stripping away the emotions associated with reading a text or watching a film, through over-reliance on AI summaries, you strip away much of the emotional impact these things have on you.

• Due to the fact that LLMs are trained on data scraped from hundreds of thousands of internet sources, it is very suceptible to repeat false information, or can even be weaponized to do so. A good example of this weaponization can be seen in Twitter's AI, which was fed white supremacist ideology, resulting in it referring to itself as "Mecha Hitler". The biggest problem with this (beyond the obvious), is that the data you receive from these sources may not only be inaccurate, but may be intentionally cultivated to misinform their audiences. (All of this to say, LLMs are not your friend, they are a product, designed to earn money for their creators, and shouldn't ever be relied upon as the sole source of someone's information.)

1. AI can assist students in studying. It can give them practice questions, explain why an answer is right, create flashcards, mock exams, and more.

2. AI can explain things differently than a teacher may. So if a student doesn't understand something in class, they can use AI to relearn it or reinforce their learning. They can also ask AI as many questions as they need to in order to understand the topic.

Cons:

1. AI may be used for things like academic dishonesty, cheating, etc.

2. Something like AI is very hard to rein in once it is introduced. Now that AI has become very common, I believe that the majority of students wouldn't be able to go back to when AI wasn't a thing. Instead, AI will only continue to get more and more advanced.

• AI tools are able to be trained and programmed for their user, so learning can be very individualized and personalized

• As a future SPED teacher, I appreciate the way it can help students with disabilities by providing speech-to-text programs, translation tools, and other supports that are beneficial for students with learning differences

Concerns AGAINST AI:

• I know that I have been victim to this, but becoming too reliant on AI tools is a very real concern for many students and educators

• AI is not always accurate and can produce misleading information, that is why the reliance piece can be scary because AI is not always correct and students who are too trusting might experience the repercussions of this

Tool for Understanding/Accessibility: AI in a classroom can be a slippery slope, but it is important to understand that when a teacher is unavailable, AI can act as a an instructor and guide students through tough questions. Many students, especially as they get older, have commitments outside of the classroom that can make it hard for them to complete things in a timely manner so that they can access their teacher. Using AI in order to explain a topic or show them more examples when they study is a great way for students to stay on track and ensure they are able to see content in many ways. There is a difference in AI doing a student’s homework and it completing a condensed version of the entirety of the concept and explaining step a student can take to understand and complete their work. Using AI to clarify is a great way for students to ensure their understanding of concepts inside and outside the classroom.

Further Exploring and Gathering Research Faster: In many cases, students are asked to gather information and do research for assignments and essays. The internet is such a vast resource and student are left usually on their own in order to find a topic, find enough resources to defend it, and then cohesively combine their findings in a way that is academically proficient. I think using some AI tools can help to facilitate this process. If a students is in between topic ideas, asking AI platform to find different article about both topics can allow a student to get a quick reading and decide from there. Similarly, AI can weigh in on topics and help make a decision. Once a student picks a topic, some AI platforms (ex: ChatGPT) can even find some different sources in a way that can help make the process quicker. This feature also supplies students with unlimited research for any topic they might find interest in. I think using AI to help students get further in their work is great tool for the classroom.

Con:

Loss of Learning: There is also a possibility that using AI tools for every assignment or integrating it too often when facing an academic challenge can lead to a student’s loss or learning or lack of comprehension. If a student over-uses AI, they run the risk of loosing their ability to learn independently. Students can rely too heavily on AI for homework completion (rather than assistance) and then have a gap in their learning that they are either not able to make up themselves or push them behind in their learning path. Similarly, students might loose some academic abilities, like problem solving or comprehension skills because they use AI too much or use it in order to complete all their classwork.

Cheating/Ill-Intended Use: The biggest downfall of students using AI in classrooms is when it is used with ill-intention. If students are putting zero effort into their work and solely rely on AI platforms to complete their coursework, they are not learning. It is also important to note that using AI for writing essays and doing exams is cheating. Both of these ideas are essential to consider when talking about incorporating AI into the classroom. Teaching students to use AI as an assistant rather than a crutch should be the top priority.

1. Helps you understand things better
   AI can be like having a helper who is always there. If you are stuck on a question or don’t understand a lesson, it can explain it in a way that makes sense. It can give examples or show things in different ways like pictures or simple summaries. This makes learning easier and less stressful. It can also make students feel more confident because they have help when they need it.
   
   

2. Saves time and gives new ideas
   AI can do small tasks for you like checking your grammar or summarizing a reading. This saves time so you can focus on thinking and being creative. It can also give you ideas you might not have thought of on your own. Using it this way can make learning more interesting and give you more energy to work on projects instead of just finishing assignments.
   
   

Concerns about kids using AI tools

1. Depending on it too much
   A problem is that students might start letting AI do all the work for them. If that happens, they might not actually learn or understand the material. This can make it harder when they have to do things on their own like tests or projects. AI should be used to help, not replace thinking for yourself.
   
   

2. It can be wrong or unfair
   AI is not perfect. Sometimes it gives wrong answers or shows only one side of a topic. Students might believe it without checking and get confused. AI can also have biases because of the information it learned from. It’s important to remember it is just a tool to help you, not something to fully trust.

• One pro of students using Ai tools in the classroom is that they can get faster feedback. For example, Ai tools can supply students with personalized feedback on assignments immediately upon turning them in. This would be handy when students are doing assignments at home, or teachers are busy with other students in the classroom.

• Also, Ai tools can make interactive tools for students such as fun ways to study, educational games, etc.

Cons:

• One con of students using Ai tools in the classroom is that it can generate false and inaccurate information. Although Ai is very handy, it is not always correct. Students can put all their trust in Ai in the classroom, and it can give them the wrong answer and effect their learning.

• Another con of students using Ai in the classroom is that there is less human interaction. A big part of education is the peer and teacher interactions that you have in the classroom. With increase use of Ai, this interaction is limited, as well as student social skills.

There are, however, many cons to using AI in a classroom. The main struggle with AI in classrooms is using it as "Original work”. Many students will pass up doing their own work or solving their own problems and instead use AI to complete homework. This prevents students from actually learning the materials and having more students struggle on proctored tests or exams. Another reason AI in the classroom can cause problems is due to bias. Based on the training data AI receives, it provides different information on many things that could include, race, gender, politics, and much more. This can provide students with false information that can shape their learning in a negative way. It can also cause students to not get the full picture when looking into a topic or problem which can cause issues for the students' understanding.

The first benefit of AI is the positive use for academics. This includes using AI to make study tools such as practice problems and quizzes. This is beneficial for students to get more practice on topics that many not have as much practice material provided.

Another benefit of AI is the efficiency. AI is able to quickly summarize an article in seconds. For students this is crucial to quickly gain knowledge. For teachers this could be used to help summarize standards or efficiently prepare ideas for lesson plans.

One con of AI is the lack of interactions. For students who don't gain interaction in other places, AI can be dangerous. For a student to use AI instead of interact at a library could be the difference of talking to someone.

Another con of AI is the misinformation. AI can commonly be used to spread misinformation upon the internet. This could be dangerous if someone believes a fact that could alter their lives.

1. AI is an efficient tool to assist students in learning material when a teacher or another student is not available. The opportunities it gives a student to continue their learning outside of school are very helpful. For example, it could summarize textbook chapters or scan the web for educational sites on a chosen topic.

2. AI offers a practical example of citing sources and gives students practice citing sources correctly. This practice can prepare them for citing any sources in papers, speeches, and presentations. As a result, students gain an understanding of the importance of citing where they got their information.

However, AI, when used improperly, has the capacity to impact learning negatively:

1. A student can become too dependent on AI, which leads to a loss in critical thinking skills and true understanding of concepts. In this way, AI can decrease learning because students are not connecting and generating information themselves.

2. AI can also imprint incorrect information on a student's mind. The information AI gives is not always correct, and it often does not follow the prompt exactly. If this happens, a student might learn incorrect information or perform poorly in school because their assignments show incorrect information.

Overall, Artificial Intelligence can be a wonderful tool to support student understanding and critical thinking when used in the manner it was designed for.

When considering allowing AI tools in the classroom, teachers should be wary of bias within AI tools. If the person who entered data into the machine learning entered that information with a bias, it will be represented in the data the AI puts forward. Furthermore, we don’t want students to become dependent on AI. Using these tools can become a crutch for students and they might do more harm than good if not utilized correctly.

• Students may rely on AI too much and not develop certain critical thinking skills on their own.

• AI can be incorrect. This could cause kids to get faulty information and use it wrongly.

-creating study material or creating a simpler way to study and compact the concepts students need to grasp to ensure they have the right material to learn from.

-this gives students a way to ask questions in different forms to see how or what better works to get the answers they are looking for (not cheating) but a new way to critically think about everyday problems and solutions.

Concerns of using AI:

-the big one is, cheating. Using it to get answers to get “better” grades but this can cause you not to maintain information as well as get false information and still not pass

-having AI generate ideas and passing them off as your own. In a sense it is cheating but it’s more so plagiarism. As AI takes from all kinds of databases (learning/teaching machine type of AI) it can be like stealing or actually stealing someone else’s work.

AI is a great tool but it has to be used positively and managed at a reasonable use level. I think discussions like the one teacher stated in the news interview is a great way to not only help social skills in a high tech world but to help keep students from cheating.

That being said AI is often used inappropriately, and there is not real way to regulate its' use. Often students who have trouble with procrastination are more tempted to use AI when it comes down to crunch time as they feel they have no other option. This leads to dependability and other problems. Another negative would be AI hallucinations which I have personally experiences. Sometimes when students ask AI for information it's inaccurate entirely. It doesn't actually hold all the information in the world, but it still choses to give you a response (whether that response is factual or not). This misinformation can be extremely harmful to learning.