“Why are you using AI?”, an 8th grade student from St. Mary’s International School called out when he caught another student using generative AI to complete his English Literary Nonfiction Analysis assessment. Even though that assignment was 100 percent AI-free, which means that AI use is forbidden, he chose the option to use AI. Catching this misuse, what initiated as a quiet gossip inside the classroom soon became a grade-wide concern.
It was the Thursday of March 12th, 2026, which was just a day prior to the submission date, and everyone was in a rush, and it was not an exception for the student who was called out for using AI. With the pressure to finish the assignment given, he unleashed artificial intelligence to help him finish his assignment before the deadline, even though this assignment was at AI Level 1. According to St. Mary’s AI policies, at Level 1, students are strictly prohibited from using any type of AI tools, ranging from generative AI to even AI detectors. For many students, unauthorized AI use was a concerning factor in academics. A survey conducted on 63 Grade 8 students showed that over 85 percent of the grade level reported that artificial intelligence had negative impacts on education, of which over 60 percent replied that artificial intelligence led to academic dishonesty and unfairness to others. On the contrary, approximately only 15 percent replied that artificial intelligence only had positive effects on learning and leaned towards the affirmative side.
As the end of the year approached, pressure was building up within the entirety of the Grade 8 to maintain their hard work while the assignments became increasingly difficult to achieve high standards. “People are pressured to work hard”, which “resorts them to relying on generative AI to do their work for them”, or they are “simply just lazy to try”, mentioned Ryunosuke during an interview with him. AI tools are one of, if not the most, efficient tools currently, and they can drastically decrease the time it takes to create an outline, write, and polish a piece of work. With a few sentences, it can fully generate an entire essay within seconds. Ryunosuke’s recognition of why people use AI in the first place displays the larger picture. With the introduction of a variety of AI tools, the use of AI has become more difficult to determine, making students reluctant to do the difficult work and instead take the easier, more comfortable way out. It has dramatically lowered the bar for achieving high standards. However, in recent years, many individuals have started to question that trend. Yuta, who is one of them, states that when it is “used to escape effort, it is negative”, since “it takes away the learning opportunities from the student”. While many use AI to help them on their assessments, even though strictly prohibited, others actually do the work, which creates a very large gap in the learning they get. Additionally, the thought of escaping effort due to pressure is unfair, since others, while also having that feeling of pressure and being in the same condition, actually do their work without relying on AI tools.
The misuse of artificial intelligence in recent years has shown the larger nature of humans. When individuals face challenges, they try to find the easiest, most efficient way of accomplishing the challenge. As technology keeps improving over time, it will keep lowering the bar of high standards, and one of them is AI. If people keep relying on technology, they will eventually reach a point where technology is needed to survive.