Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.
As a 16-year-old high school student living in the Bay Area, I notice artificial intelligence being used around me daily. At my school, I’ve seen students submitting AI-generated work as their own, rather than taking the time to research, write and truly understand content.
Teachers see this and fear that students will go out in the real world and not know how to think critically without consulting a machine first. They see how it has already created an overreliance on shortcuts, weaker problem-solving skills and lower writing ability in their students. In response, many teachers have banned AI from their classrooms.
I’ll be honest: sometimes I use AI in school, too. By asking ChatGPT to help me explain the meaning of a piece of text or asking it to identify flaws in my writing, I intentionally use AI to help me learn. But when some of my peers use it to generate their entire assignments, it leads teachers to see any use of AI — whether it be productive or exploitative — as a lazy way to cheat, and it makes me feel guilty to use it at all.
It’s understandable why many educators feel this way, and researchers agree. For example, in a 2024 study published by the journal Societies, a sampling of 666 people showed that younger participants reported a higher use of AI tools but displayed lower critical-thinking skills.
However, AI isn’t going away. Other studies show that the use of AI in the workplace and in education is rising. A 2025 Gallup poll of U.S. employees showed those who frequently use AI multiple times a week nearly doubled, from 11% to 19% in two years. It’s only becoming more integrated in the world we live in, and without being taught AI literacy in school, the future feels uncertain.
Completely wiping AI out from classrooms doesn’t work in the long term, because students still find ways to move around it and misuse it for their assignments. It’s easy for them to adapt by using content humanizers like Bypass GPT or AIHumanize to avoid being detected. Banning it does not solve the problem.
A ban also erases the opportunities that AI can give students to do better in school. For example, an English teacher might have students generate an essay using AI, then have them critique its writing style and argument, or compare it to their own essay to identify areas that can be improved.
Khanmigo, an AI platform developed by Khan Academy, can give students more practice problems in math when they struggle with a particular concept, and can work with them to learn, rather than handing them answers.
This is a chance for educators to teach students how to use AI responsibly — not as a substitute for creative and critical thought, but as a tool to support them in academics instead. AI is still a developing technology that presents ethical issues, like its substantial environmental impact and potential biases that can be introduced by algorithms. It’s also known to not always be reliable for credible information and research.
But I rarely see these issues being discussed around me — it’s a missed opportunity for teachers to encourage digital literacy and for students to engage with a technology that will ultimately shape our world.
Sophie Luo is a member of the class of 2027 at Irvington High School in Fremont.