By Sage Joyce ’29
Imagine having a homework question at 10 p.m. and not knowing who to ask. For many high school students, ChatGPT has become an easy way to get help or understand a question. Whether students are struggling with an essay, trying to understand math, or just looking for ideas, ChatGPT can give them answers in seconds. But while it can be useful, it also comes with some problems.
One major benefit of ChatGPT is that it can make schoolwork easier to understand. If a student doesn’t understand something their teacher explained in class, they can ask ChatGPT to explain it differently. It can also help students brainstorm ideas, organize their thoughts, or find mistakes in their writing. Instead of giving up when an assignment gets difficult, students have another resource they can use.
However, ChatGPT can also become a problem when students depend on it too much. Some students might use it to write an entire essay or finish an assignment without actually learning anything or doing the work. This can make school easier in the moment, but it can hurt students in the long run. If students always let AI think for them, they may have a harder time developing their own writing, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills. Students using ChatGPT to cheat has been a very common issue throughout high school these days.
Another issue is that ChatGPT is not always correct. It can give information that sounds convincing but is actually wrong. Because of this, students should not automatically trust everything it says. They should check important information and use reliable sources, especially for research assignments. There have been many instances where students use ChatGPT to cheat on tests and end up failing anyway.
Overall, ChatGPT can be a helpful tool for high school students if it is used responsibly. It should be used more like a tutor or study partner than a shortcut. AI is probably going to be a bigger part of education in the future, so learning how to use it correctly is just as important as learning the subjects themselves.