How Students in Mid-Michigan are Adapting to Learning in the Era of AI.
LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Artificial Intelligence has made its way into educational settings.
While it offers advantages for both students and educators, it also presents certain challenges.
At the East Lansing Public Library, we gathered insights from parents and students regarding the growing role of artificial intelligence as the new school year approaches.
Rebecca Rook, a mother of two, expresses her disappointment about the movement away from books in favor of computers.
“I miss the traditional way of learning, as I feel AI is undermining their education system,” Rook comments.
Her 14-year-old daughter Josie, a freshman at East Lansing High School, acknowledges that avoiding AI is quite difficult.
“Sometimes when I have a lot of assignments, I resort to using AI,” Josie shares.
According to Aman Yadav, an educational technology professor at Michigan State University, classroom workloads impact teachers as much as students.
“Teachers are overwhelmed and underpaid, so utilizing chatbots can certainly enhance their productivity and lessen their workload in the classroom,” Yadav explains.
Chatbots are AI programs that transform a person’s written or spoken words into content.
“For instance, if you ask it to write about a princess in the forest, you’ll receive a unique story each time,” Yadav notes.
He adds that each story is convincing, thanks to the chatbot’s training on millions of other narratives.
However, the crucial point is that AI lacks true comprehension of its output…
“What concerns me is that kids, as they interact with these chatbots, may believe the AI understands their queries and meets their needs, but that’s misleading, as it has no real understanding, because computers are indifferent,” Yadav cautions.
Professor Yadav stresses that since computers are not concerned with the accuracy of the information they provide, schools must create AI literacy programs for students.
“To educate them on how these tools are designed and function, so they can recognize that the information from these tools isn’t always reliable,” Yadav states.
He also notes that there is limited research supporting AI’s advantages in education, while studies indicate that reliance on AI can diminish critical thinking skills.
“Students might lose their own critical thinking abilities, as it’s more convenient to ask a chatbot a question,” Yadav remarks.
For freshman Josie Rook, the new school year signifies a renewed focus on relying on her “natural intelligence.”
“My goal is to complete my work independently, express my true feelings, and support my fellow students,” Josie reveals.
With an increasing number of school districts adopting AI-assisted learning tools, families may face additional financial burdens.
This could include the necessity for updated computers and internet access, along with a subscription to an AI service costing $20 per month.
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