Since the arrival of public-use Artificial Intelligence, including platforms such as ChatGPT, PerplexityAI, Exa, and more, it’s safe to say that the world as we know it has changed. The impacts have been substantial: engineers use AI to assist with their code development, business professionals use AI to summarize proposals or even write their emails for them, and notably, students have begun using it to support their academic work. At face value, the effects seem positive: what could possibly go wrong with attempting to alleviate the long hours students spend studying, when AI can help them in a few seconds? 

Unfortunately, the consequences are hidden, but powerful. According to a study conducted by the Harvard Graduate School on Business Education surveying 1500 teens ranging from ages 13-17 on their use of AI, “many admitted to using AI to cheat on assignments, homework, or tests…[and] to help getting answers for unasked questions.” Aside from encouraging students to flout the academic integrity policies that many schools employ, access to “easy” information drastically impacts the attention spans and work ethics of students worldwide. Prior to the increased availability of AI, seemingly tedious assignments required hours of painstaking research, review, and understanding; because solutions are now available with a simple one to two sentence prompt, students are unable to go through the necessary steps to actually understand the content. Consequently, their willingness to learn new information that might not come as easily decreases. 

Manson Space, a blog dedicated to discussing the arrival of new technologies, reflects on this idea further: “short-form content…trains our brain to quickly seek out quick dopamine hits rather than engaging with more complex and challenging ideas.” Dopamine, from a psychological perspective, acts as a “shot of happiness” infiltrating the brain– constantly prompting it to seek out that same feeling of pleasure. It directly opposes the exhaustion we might experience when exercising our analytical side– the constant need to seek out the same level of stimulation is referred to as the inescapable “dopamine loop.” 

Although the negative effects seem daunting, the potential positives provide an alternative view. As demonstrated by the results of the Harvard Graduate School of Business study, its use for cheating is undeniable; however, students also reported that “generative AI can help teens get answers to questions they may be too afraid to ask adults.” When utilizing this perspective, AI can be perceived as an eraser of anxiety, rather than solely an “attention span destroyer.” Instead of putting themselves under stress to work up the courage to ask their teachers for assistance or study the material without supplementing their existing knowledge, AI offers an alternative solution to preserve their mental state: help, without judgment. 

So, at the end of the day, what could go wrong? The possibility of AI having negative effects cannot (and should not) be ignored. However, it’s important to consider its value from a holistic perspective before immediately dismissing it as purely detrimental: can we really ignore the help it has provided to students? As technology’s role in students’ lives continues to grow, we might be able to come to a firm conclusion– or perhaps it will remain an unsolved