Toward the end of March, the CHS board banned Chat GPT on school-issued chromebooks. While some teachers are in support of this decision, many students are beginning to see how dependent they became on the program. This decision has sparked controversy regarding whether or not Chat GPT could have been used beneficially without students taking advantage.
Some students, like sophomore Daniel Draher, have a moderate take on the ban. While he understands the reasoning behind making these restrictions, Draher also recognizes student’s frustrations lacking the opportunity to use this resource during class.
“On the one hand, Chat GPT was really helpful for getting ideas and an easy start for brainstorming,” Draher said. “On the other hand, I know a lot of my friends and classmates took advantage of it and used it to cheat.”
Draher believes that students will continue to work around this ban. With many sites being easily accessible to students on chromebooks, such as Google Gemini, there will likely be a “new” Chat GPT site.
“I feel bad for the teachers, because this ban still won’t stop students from using AI,” Draher said. “It’s unfortunate because I think AI could really be used for a good purpose inside classrooms.”
Draher has seen first-hand student’s abuse of Chat GPT. Being a player on both JV Football and JV Basketball, many of his teammates overuse AI and have had to deal with the consequences.
“I know teammates who have been caught using Chat GPT on major assignments and getting in trouble with the school,” Draher said. “I definitely think education on how to use AI appropriately should be taught in the classroom.”
Sophomore Katie Hemerick also has mixed feelings about the ban. While Hemerick has experience in using Chat GPT for every class, she feels it is important to recognize teacher usage of the tool.
“I’ve actually seen a lot of my teachers using Chat GPT to grade assignments or check work,” Hemerick said. “I think that’s a good example of how AI can be used to your advantage, to help out in simple activities during class to shorten the time.”
Because many students have abused Chat GPT’s ability to provide the answers for classwork, some feel that it could be beneficial to find an alternative program for students to come up with ideas without the option to cheat. This way, students could have the opportunity to facilitate creative development while learning to use AI efficiently.
“I think it would be great to find a middle ground between students and administrators,” Hemerick said. “Chat GPT would be a great resource if used correctly.”
Freshman Shayne Reed believes the ban should be overturned. She claims that her study and organizational skills were improved greatly with the help of Chat GPT during the first semester of the school year.
“It was a pretty big transition from eighth grade to freshman year for me, and it took me a while to get used to the block schedule,” Reed said. “I used Chat GPT a lot to help me make study sheets and mini quizzes to help me prepare for my upcoming tests.”
Many students, however, have taken advantage of the resource at times to complete their work for them. Reed says that even she has found herself in that position.
“I myself have fallen into the trap of going down the wrong path and having Chat GPT do things for me I know I could do myself,” Reed said. “I know a lot of other students have done this accidentally too, so if there was access to it but with restrictions, I think we could bring back Chat GPT.”
Despite the temptation to capitalize on AI’s ability to complete classwork, Chat GPT and other forms of AI can be used for a multitude of classes that are specific to each student. This can even benefit students trying to balance busy schedules. Students are hoping a new form of AI will be allowed in the classroom that will not interfere with teacher curriculum.
“Hopefully in the near future there will be a new form of AI that will work for every part of the school,” Reed said. “It can be a useful tool if used correctly.”
