AI Does My Homework—and My Existential Crisis
By Riya Dasgupta
It started with a simple question: What is the theme of Macbeth? But when a high school sophomore got a five-paragraph essay within seconds, they realized they had stumbled onto something bigger than CliffsNotes ever dared dream. Artificial intelligence has officially entered the chat—literally—and it’s flipping the classroom upside down. “I just asked it for a thesis, but then it gave me an outline, then a whole essay,” one student shared in a Reddit thread. “And like… it was better than what I would have written.” They laughed. “Is that bad?”
Depends on who you ask. Teachers across the country are grappling with the sudden AI omnipresence in education. Tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Grammarly are being used to draft essays, solve math problems, and yes, write apologies to angry group project partners. The New York Times has called it “a turning point in education.” But students remain split between awe and anxiety. “Sure, it is cool,” said one Florida high school senior in a PBS interview. “But now I am not even sure if I am learning anything. Like, if AI can write my college application, how do schools know who they are even admitting?”
The existential dread is real. According to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey, 56% of teens say they’ve used AI to help with schoolwork, but nearly one-third worry it's making them too dependent. Even so, many students argue it’s just a tool—one that’s redefining how they study. “I use it to brainstorm or check grammar,” said 16-year-old Ryann Shin in a Teen Vogue roundtable. “It’s like having a super nice tutor that just does what I want it to.”
Meanwhile, school districts are scrambling to catch up. Some have attempted blanket bans on generative AI tools. Others are doing the opposite—integrating AI literacy into classrooms, teaching students how to use it responsibly. The U.S. Department of Education recently released guidance encouraging schools to stop fighting AI and start preparing students to navigate it. Think: digital ethics meets computer science meets, well, reality.
Educators themselves are divided. Some are reverting to handwritten exams and in-class essays. Others are leaning in. “We must accept that AI tools are changing how writing is accomplished in every field and embrace that students need to learn to use them effectively,” said Dr. Glenn M. Kleiman, senior advisor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. “Educators must understand and embrace the changes driven by advances in AI, and it’s time to begin the challenging work of reforming how we teach students to write with AI tools.”
Still, the temptation to cheat is very much alive. A 2024 report from Common Sense Media found that nearly 40% of high school students admitted to submitting AI-written work as their own at least once.
And so, the question remains: Is AI the greatest study buddy ever—or the beginning of the academic apocalypse?
Maybe the answer lies somewhere in between. “It’s kind of like a calculator for writing,” one student quipped in a TikTok video. “You still have to know what you’re doing… otherwise, you’re just copying and pasting your way through life—and eventually, you might come across a time where you actually need that faked knowledge.”