Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence has been insanely normalized for cheating, as you may have seen. It’s always been normalized like you’ve seen in older shows; people write test answers on their hands, just tell the answers to their friends, or make their friends do their work. Well, now teachers have prevented those issues, but with them preventing those, they have to try to deter artificial intelligence cheating. Some teachers take phones during tests, which could be an excellent solution to the problem, but what about writing assignments? Essays? Math work? If students depend on artificial intelligence to just write and do their schoolwork, they aren’t learning anything, which could affect their future. Forbes.com provides information on how “ Considering that 90% of students are aware of ChatGPT, and 89% of survey respondents report that they have used the platform to help with a homework assignment.”. Although people say AI can also help students learn, it does more harm than good. Only motivated students would use AI to learn, and most students who use AI as a whole aren’t motivated since they just make the bot do all of their work.
Cheating in the Past
Cheating in the past was usually not as common since only the “bad kids” cheated. Studies show how “the increase in cheating over time is confirmed by studies conducted in 1969, 1979, and 1989 by Fred Schab at the University of Georgia. The number of students who admitted using a cheat sheet on a test doubled from 34 percent in 1969 to 68 percent in 1989.” (aft.org). The site also explains how it is creating a severe problem, which supports the fact that there was no super everyday use of the Internet back then. They didn’t have it as accessible, so they were more motivated.
It’s always better to take inspiration rather than cheat. Using a reference or being inspired by another’s work and making it your own, not necessarily rewording it but taking that creativity and using it as motivation to make something else, is so much better for learning than straight-up copying. Teachers always preach how understanding is better than memorizing for a reason.
Guilt and Consequence
Another factor of cheating is guilt; many students don’t have guilt these days because all they care about is getting their work done quickly and easily with AI. For example, since it is an easier source, people just don’t regret using it. AI being normalized also causes a lack of guilt among students. The New York Times explains how “Experts say the reasons are relatively simple: Cheating has become easier and more widely tolerated, and both schools and parents have failed to give students strong, repetitive messages
what is allowed and what is prohibited.” This supports how cheating has gotten more accessible while technology has evolved. Parents are also a huge factor in this; they don’t teach their children not to cheat and be honest. The website also explains how “Internet access has made cheating easier, enabling students to connect instantly with answers, friends to consult, and works to plagiarize. And generations of research have shown that a major factor in unethical behavior is simply how easy or hard it is.” Again, this supports the idea that internet access is the main reason that cheating is more frequently done now.
Cheating has always been considered normal or a very popular “strategy to use,” but it’s now used more than ever due to the internet.
