Students are 'undermining and eroding their learning' by using AI to do their homework

Children are "undermining their learning" and "cognitively offloading" by using AI in their school and homework. 

It has been causing friction between students and teachers recently, with teachers questioning, "what's the point in homework?" as they don't know whether AI or a child has produced the work.

Rita Bateson, Director of Education at Eblana Learning, was speaking on RTÉ Radio 1 today.

"It's very important that we're looking very clear-eyed at the advantages and disadvantages,"  she said. 

Ebalna Learning provides AI guidance for international schools and teachers. 

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Rita said that internationally, there is a focus on AI literacy and how to use it, whereas in Ireland children are using it as a way to offload their thinking. 

She described it as "cognitive offloading" and it means students are going to AI for answers that they might actually already have in their own notes or school books.

"The temptation (is) to ask it to do some of the brainstorming or initial ideation for a project or getting some good ideas," Rita added.

The problem is that because of how AI is designed, even when children intend just to use it for planning purposes, the software will offer to start the project or homework for them.

As a result, students are beginning to rely on it to get started and avoid that "blank page effect." 

"As adults, we already have those fine-tuned abilities to research and we can use it as an accelerant but they are accelerating passed the learning process and that's quite a dangerous place to be in," Rita said.

She added that children using AI in this way is "undermining and eroding" their learning as once they get home, they are not putting into practice what they learned in the classroom that day. 

"We have to now build education systems around productive struggle because the students don't get enough struggle," she said. 

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At the moment, Eblana Learning is working on developing an AI curriculum for schools.  

Rita revealed that students are also accusing teachers of using AI to correct their work. 

Despite these hurdles, she says that AI does have many advantages in education too, particularly when it comes to learning languages or supporting children with additional needs.