When given the opportunity to use AI to generate images for a comic project in English class last year, junior Addison Goldsmith chose to draw the project herself instead.
“Instantly, my entire class, including me, was thinking that clearly it would be a lot easier and quicker to use AI,” said Goldsmith. “A few people in my class ended up finding websites that worked, but [the websites] were really difficult [to use].”
Goldsmith faced a challenge when she asked AI to create an image of a boy and his mother, but instead a graphic of two middle-aged people was generated, she said.
“After a lot of trials and errors, several different websites and several in-depth descriptions, I decided that [AI] just wasn’t going to work, and I would probably have an easier time taking the route I thought would be longer, which was drawing it,” Goldsmith said.
According to Goldsmith’s English teacher Jared Zuckerman, the project encouraged students to use the more artistic side of AI.
“[My students and I] did realize that if you don’t really have a paid account, there were pretty considerable restrictions [to AI], and a lot of students just found that to be more frustrating than it was exciting to use,” Zuckerman said.
Zuckerman uses AI as a brainstorming and editing tool in his classroom, having it generate questions, reword essay prompts and edit his ideas, he said.
According to Goldsmith, Zuckerman has held research workshops during class to help students create a detailed outline on how to properly ask AI for scholarly sources.
“I always teach a unit on how [my students] can use AI,” said Zuckerman. “If you’re sloppy at prompting it, then you’re not going to get anything in return, and I think some students ran into that as a fundamental barrier to using it as a research tool last year.”
According to social studies teacher Dr. Michael Greenstein, he used AI in his AP Government and Politics class to create an assignment about finding flaws in polling data, which included AI-generated graphics and examples.
“[AI] was not able to come up with good graphical representations of the data, and so I had to go back and edit several of the graphics as a result,” Greenstein said.
Greenstein feels AI is analogous to a calculator, he said.
“Just like in a math class, where I’m sure you have some tests where you can use your calculator and some where you can’t, I think that that’s kind of the same idea with AI [here],” Greenstein said.
Teachers should help students learn how to use AI as a tool properly and effectively, as it could be a detriment to a student’s learning if used inappropriately, Greenstein said.
Greenstein’s biggest concern about AI usage is that it has the ability to replace valuable life skills that students need to develop.
“I would not want a student to be over reliant on AI where they themselves couldn’t write a persuasive paper or even like an email or replace a conversation with somebody,” said Greenstein. “I think no matter what people continue to do beyond the walls of GBN, they’re going to have to learn to be an effective communicator and be able to communicate in various environments.”
According to Goldsmith, it can sometimes be hard for her to resist using AI, which she believes could be hindering her learning.
“I think AI is beneficial for so many reasons, but I think that people don’t know how to use it right yet,” said Goldsmith. “I think that most students are really struggling to find that line where it’s moral to use it and not.”