Students' Unfortunate Use of AI

Artificial intelligence has taken over the world. There may be no getting rid of it; society must learn to live with it regardless of personal beliefs. For educators and students, however, this trend raises a critical question: When does AI stop being a tool and become a crutch? Multiple studies suggest that regularly using AI can diminish critical thinking skills. 

AI was created to help humans, though its rollout brought mixed results. Many people mocked early AI tools, finding humor in their distortions and fabricated numbers. But in the past few years, AI has grown; it's become smarter, more efficient, more realistic. A 2025 summary by Campbell University noted that “a global survey by the Digital Education Council found that 86% of students use AI in their studies, with 54% using it weekly and nearly one in four using it daily.”

Educators are closely tracking how rapidly that percentage has increased. What does this mean for students? If students rely entirely on AI, they risk losing their critical thinking skills. As a student myself, I can speak from experience that multiple teachers have already integrated AI into their work and even asked me to use it on my assignments. This isn’t the norm for every teacher, however. 

The overwhelming usage of AI doesn’t seem to be going down anytime soon; it has become a day-to-day tool for students. Not only is AI being used for homework, but also for socializing. A study done by the American Psychological Association reveals, “Popular tools like ChatGPT, Character.AI, and Snapchat’s My AI can mimic real conversations, and there is evidence that some of these bots are being used by socially isolated youth seeking companionship.” For students that are using these tools, they also risk stunting their social skills.

I think the most important thing to do right now is to remind students that they are growing up, and that they should focus on growing their own skills for their future employment. As of now, AI won’t be taking over humanity’s work. AI can be a helpful study tool, but it’s irresponsible to rely on it to do your work. Students already using AI for all their work probably don’t care, but I wrote this article because I do. Some say they are scared of AI taking over us, but we are literally letting it happen anyways by relying on it to think, to literally think.

Image provided by Jernej Furman on Wikimedia Commons.