Long long ago, when dinosaurs and some of our current presidential candidates roamed the earth, people used to wait for a modem to start up to use the internet. Now some of my classmates rely on AI to speed write their essays — when they’re perfectly capable of doing it themselves — and cry when they get called before the academic honor council. I am a two-time first-year peer tutor and the opinion section editor of the Trinitonian; trust me when I say that I can weed out an essay written by ChatGPT in seconds. If I can do it, you better believe our insanely brilliant professors can too.

ChatGPT is just a new development in the line of useless gimmicks that you don’t really need. Sure, having something automatically do all your work for you sounds great, but the purpose of life is definitely not to cheat it or figure out a way to get through it without doing any of the work yourself. If you get lucky on every turn and catch every mistake it produces, ChatGPT might benefit your GPA in the short term. But what happens when you’re about to take a test and find out at the last minute that it’s not online? You’ll know some of the answers through proofreading countless AI-generated papers, but your essay-writing skills will likely have decayed by that point and you’ll fail anyway.

ChatGPT is a form of generative AI that, when asked a question, literally makes its answer up. Sometimes it draws from its minimal database that consists of peer-reviewed journal articles, Reddit comment sections and satirical websites like the Onion. The only way you can trust whatever it gives you is if you provide every single source and piece of information needed to answer your question — and at that point, you might as well figure it out yourself.

Wild inaccuracies aside, ChatGPT may only be helpful when it’s the Plus version, and for the low, low price of $20 a month, you can get answers that are 40% more likely to be factually accurate! It could save some amount of time, or it could just complicate your life even more. Picture yourself in hour six of the AI essay-writing process, telling Lord GPT that at least one of its claims is wrong. “Sorry about that! You’re absolutely right. This is the updated response with the correct information.” It’s the exact same essay. Maybe you should try paying attention in the classes you’re going into debt for instead.

I know I’m playing a broken record here, and I might sound like some old people who are in denial of technological advancement. I’m not oblivious to the fact that AI is equipping people with more power and that the Harvard Business Review says that AI won’t replace people, but people with AI will replace people without it. It makes me think that by writing my own essays when Prince GPT can do it in a flash, am I just misusing the resources available to me? Am I just resigned to the egotistical idea that I can do it better than a machine or that by using AI I’m wasting my talent and intelligence?

Probably! But there’s a funny little acronym in computer science that I like, ‘GIGO,’ which means “Garbage in, Garbage out.” It means that if you ask an AI for something stupid, it’ll give you something stupid back, maybe with an extra pinch of stupid mixed in. I’m going to take this time in college to develop my writing skills, so that if and when King GPT takes over the world and I’m forced to use AI, I’m not putting garbage into it and expecting it to make me a rainbow.

There’s merit to being able to do your work well on your own, and in a world of AI, that can easily be forgotten. Something that helps me remember that when it’s 3:00 a.m. and I’m working on an essay due in five hours is that I’m paying a lot of money — like, a lot of money — to be here. If I really didn’t want to try, I wouldn’t be here.

AI might make life easier and I’m not in (complete) denial of that, but I think a better approach to this whole AI thing is to use it as a supplement instead of the whole meal. An example of this would be using it to edit your work for grammatical issues, rather than asking it to come up with the idea for your senior thesis and simultaneously invalidating the entirety of your college career.

It’s an easy decision to make: You can either control AI or let it control you. The fundamental skills needed to prevent the latter are things you learn in school. Using AI to cheat your way around learning them might be a way to get good grades (or to get kicked out), but in the long run, it’s just going to be GIGO.

The article below this was written by ChatGPT to help me illustrate my point. I asked it to write the affirmative to the question:
“Should you use generative AI like ChatGPT to do your schoolwork for you?”
The written edits to the side of it are mine. If I missed anything, or I made a mistake, feel free to reach out at [email protected].








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**The Case for Using Generative AI Like ChatGPT for Homework**
byline: chat gpt
In an increasingly digital world, the integration of artificial intelligence into education presents both opportunities and challenges. Among the most innovative tools available is generative AI, such as ChatGPT, which can significantly enhance the learning experience when used as a primary writer for homework assignments. By leveraging this technology, students can benefit from a unique blend of efficiency, learning reinforcement, and access to high-quality information.

Paragraph 1
The first sentence of this paragraph infuriates me. It’s the type of starter you see in a first draft of an undercooked essay, definitely not in a final result. The word ‘increasingly’ has lost all meaning. This sentence also talks about the opportunities and challenges of AI, but never mentions any of these challenges later on. It is shabby writing to mention something in an introduction without elaboration.

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First and foremost, ChatGPT provides students with a valuable resource for generating well-structured, coherent essays. The AI’s ability to produce detailed, organized content quickly allows students to focus on higher-order thinking tasks, such as critical analysis and synthesis of information. Instead of spending excessive time on drafting and formatting, students can direct their efforts toward understanding the material and developing their own perspectives. This shift can lead to a deeper grasp of the subject matter, as students are more engaged in the analysis rather than getting bogged down in the mechanics of writing.

Paragraph 2
This paragraph starts off weak, using “first and foremost,” or the number one search result that pops up when you google “transition words.” This paragraph’s focus is to denigrate the writing process as a lesser-order task that occupies time that could be spent understanding the lesson. That makes no sense, and I’m officially offended as a self-proclaimed writer. There’s also no evidence that suggests students would use all this free time to actually grasp the subject matter. This is an appeal to probability fallacy: Just because it would be nice for students to spend their time learning the material doesn’t mean they will. They probably won’t.

Furthermore, using ChatGPT to write essays ensures that students have access to well-researched and accurate information. The AI’s extensive training data encompasses a wide range of topics and sources, which means it can provide a comprehensive overview and support for various subjects. Students can benefit from this wealth of knowledge, which might be challenging to compile independently. By fact-checking and refining the AI-generated content, students can also practice their research skills and learn to discern credible sources, reinforcing their learning and analytical abilities.

Paragraph 3
Chat GPT is a generative AI, i.e., what it doesn’t know, it generates. Kabir et al., 2024 found that Chat GPT produced answers that were incorrect 52% of the time, but its formatting and articulation caused study participants to overlook 39% of these inaccuracies. The paragraph also says that even though Chat GPT has access to good research, it still gives students the opportunity to practice their fact-checking skills. This was a fun paragraph to read about AI being both right and wrong.

Additionally, incorporating AI like ChatGPT into homework assignments promotes efficiency and time management. In a demanding academic environment where students juggle multiple responsibilities, the ability to generate draft content swiftly can alleviate some of the pressures. This efficiency not only helps in managing workload but also offers students the opportunity to engage in other educational activities, such as collaborative projects or extracurricular learning.
Paragraph 4
I feel that this is a weak argument because again, there’s no guarantee that students will refocus their energy and free time into different responsibilities. I think that the problem brought into consideration here, overworked students, is a separate issue that is used to get some reader pity. It’s not really an argument for the use of AI as a replacement for writing essays so much so as it is one for better student work-life balance.

Critics might argue that relying on AI for homework diminishes the learning experience and reduces critical thinking. However, when used judiciously, ChatGPT can serve as a starting point for deeper exploration rather than a crutch. By reviewing and revising AI-generated work, students can hone their analytical skills and develop a more nuanced understanding of the subject matter. The AI can act as a tutor, guiding students through complex topics and prompting them to ask insightful questions.

Paragraph 5
If AI has one critic, it is me. It’s also Ahmad et al., 2023, that found in a survey of 285 students, there was a 68.9% increase in laziness and a 27.7% of the loss of decision-making skills as a result of using AI. The paragraph itself is interesting to read, especially because the prompt itself asked if AI should be used to “do [students’] school work for [them].” This paragraph says that Chat GPT should be used judiciously and as a starting point, which is not in tune with the rest of the arguments made in this piece and the prompt.

In conclusion, using generative AI like ChatGPT to write essays can be a powerful educational tool when implemented thoughtfully. It offers students a chance to produce high-quality work efficiently while reinforcing their learning and research skills. By fact-checking and refining AI-generated content, students not only enhance their understanding of the material but also develop valuable critical thinking abilities. Embracing AI in this capacity aligns with modern educational practices, preparing students for a future where technology and knowledge are intricately intertwined.

Paragraph 6
Ah, ‘in conclusion.’ The second thing that comes up when you google “transition words.” Besides being as vague as the rest of the essay, this is an effective conclusion. It would be better with an example of “modern educational practices,” as most faculty lack adequate AI policy across the country according to an article published in Education Week earlier this year.