Dear Editor,
As a high school junior in central Vermont, I am increasingly concerned about teachers who supplement or even rely entirely on artificial intelligence tools to deliver their curriculum, and the future implications this has for today’s youth.
While I’m conscious of the difficulties that come with teaching as a career, I believe that the use of AI completely defeats the purpose of being in the classroom. My school prides itself on teaching students how to research and present information with credible, valued sources. Teachers’ using AI as a resource seems contradictory to the values and expectations to which students are held.
I feel that teachers who regularly integrate AI into their classes are undermining faculty who take the time to plan and create classes with manual effort. It doesn’t seem fair when one teacher spends valuable time making something for their class, while another lets artificial intelligence do it for them. I understand that teachers have busy and complicated lives outside of their jobs, but using AI will not fix the issues that the education system brings upon teachers. In fact, I believe it will only further the harm. Teachers are not just figures who teach subjects in which they are well-versed. They are role models, and they are people who inspire youth to be curious, pursue their interests and communicate with the world around them. This cannot be achieved with artificial intelligence. We need real words and truths from real people to understand the complexity of our world.
Some argue that an AI-generated test or worksheet is harmless, but I think that’s shortsighted. The danger lies in where it leads. If more classes begin to use AI to create assignments, even if they are formative, school will turn into a monotonous environment. This is not education. Education should provide the gateway to pursuing greater knowledge, and not be something that can be completed and set aside in a matter of seconds. I’m sure artificial intelligence benefits many complex and large-scale scientific and governmental projects, but this is high school, not NASA. High schoolers do not benefit from lesson plans that lack human thought. Even just knowing that someone took the time to create an assignment makes me feel more motivated to complete the assignment. I don’t want to learn when the work I’m given is generated thoughtlessly; that defeats the purpose of going to a school. I’m not saying that every teacher needs to perfectly hand-craft every assignment, but it’s hard to appreciate the difficult jobs of teachers when it seems like they don’t put effort into what they’re giving us. Even if a teacher doesn’t have the time to create an assignment, the internet has resources with examples and worksheets that are confirmed to be reliable.
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In order to prevent harm, I think it’d be best to take action as early as possible. If the use of AI in teaching methods becomes normalized, we’re only going to hurt the purpose of teachers. It’s almost as if teachers who use AI are unconsciously sabotaging their own careers. Some adults might be unbothered by their use of AI because they won’t live to see a world that is governed by algorithms, but this is not their future — it’s ours.
I don’t want to be an adult with a child who can’t empathize with others or think independently because their AI teacher-bots all sound the same and don’t know what a curious, passionate human mind looks like. This is what people of my age and generation are forced to consider. What may seem far-fetched right now could very well become our reality if we do not take the initiative, and I believe that starts with our education system.
Ada Breese
Strafford, Vt.
