“I think of AI as the greatest graduate school teaching assistant you could ever imagine. It doesn’t replace the teacher—it just means that building relationships and understanding each student deeply is even more important,” said Center for Entrepreneurial Learning Director Ed Glassman on a recent FutureCast podcast. 

Many SCH teachers have this mindset. Upper School English teacher Colleen DiDonato, said she uses AI “to give students feedback on their writing during the writing process so they can improve their work before it is turned in and graded.” Additionally, she said, she “uses feedback from multiple AI bots to show students the unreliability of AI.”  She continued, “students then need to critically think through the feedback to determine whether or not the feedback is accurate and valuable.”

Many teachers who use AI in their classrooms feel that it offers them the ability to provide personalized tutoring for students who may learn differently, as well as a personalized learning environment. Experts from k12dive.com show that four in ten special education teachers admitted to using AI to develop a personalized education plan for their students.

Spanish teacher Corinne Dionne, who recently won one of SCH’s new innovation grants, is, according to Glassman, infusing her Spanish classes with AI.  

“My main inspiration for doing this inquiry project is because I am one person. I have seventeen to twenty students in a classroom. They need some one-on-one extra support with pronunciation, with using the language, and with finding the right grammar structure, et cetera,” said Dionne on the FutureCast podcast.

However, many teachers are against allowing their students to use AI. According to an article from edweek.org, in March of 2024, 863 principals, district leaders, and teachers across the country were asked about their point of view on AI usage in school. 

In the article,  31% of staff said they thought AI negatively impacted teaching and learning, while 21% said it was somewhat positive in a school environment for both teachers and students. According to Ed Week, the answers were all over the place, not exactly pinning down whether most teachers think it’s good or bad. 

This forward-thinking view is behind SCH’s CEL program drive to implement AI into our classrooms. Dionne quoted an article she read in Forbes Magazine: “AI won’t replace humans, but humans who know how to work with AI are likely to replace those who don’t.” 

CEL teacher Scott Kirker  pointed out, “Generative AI isn’t about replacing students’ skills—it’s about teaching them how to ask the right questions. They don’t need to write every line of code from scratch, but they do need to understand what they’re asking for and why.”

Teachers who do not want their students to use AI have various ways of checking student work. This includes using Chrome extensions that allow teachers to view draft backs and large copy-and-pastes in documents. Websites like ZeroGPT offer these features to help teachers recognize AI usage for assignments.

Students have their own opinions on the way teachers are using AI for help planning and giving feedback.  “I think it’s a little unfair because they get the upper hand on the use of technology, and it can pull from a lot of different areas and sources which the students may not have access to,” said senior Finn Whittle. 

Whittle also explained his opinions on the use of AI grading: “I think that AI is useful for the help, but it should not be used to grade. AI doesn’t have feelings, and if they are grading an essay, they don’t know what you’re trying to express, like they couldn’t interpret it as a human could. It’s the humanized aspect that is needed to get a true grade.”

Student and teacher use has increased greatly from 2022 to 2024. This k12dive article claims teacher AI use has increased from about 58% to 70%, while student use has increased from 51% to 67%.

How SCH students are integrating AI into their studies

AI is not only helpful for teachers, but SCH students are benefiting from AI as well. Whether they are using it to create ideas, tutor them with homework or simply search for a word, AI has proven to be helpful for most. 

Maille Colin, a senior, says she “uses it to help me on my homework, to give me definitions of words I don’t know when I’m reading a book.” Instead of spending hours stuck and lost, a Senior at SCH says AI “helps me get a broad idea for papers” and gives them the push they need to begin writing.

According to a survey conducted by Jenna Seidman ‘25, which sampled 63 Upper School students at SCH, 34 % reported using AI on a daily or weekly basis, with seniors having the most usage of the platform, with 46 % of seniors saying they use it on a daily or weekly basis. Meanwhile, 14.3 % of all students reported never having used any form of artificial intelligence before.

One thing students tend to agree on is that AI accelerates the learning process and makes balancing five to seven rigorous classes on top of extracurricular activities more manageable. In fact, 78 % of all SCH students agree or strongly agree with this statement :“AI helps me complete school work more efficiently.”

Despite its widespread use, some students are still hesitant to use AI,  because of the risk of getting in trouble and concerns about information reliability. “I trust it to a certain extent.  If I ask it to write my paper (which I haven’t done), I’m not going to trust what it says because a lot of the information could be inaccurate,” Colin said. According to a Forbes report, on average, students rated AI’s accuracy for school-related work at 7.2 out of 10.

Many students appreciate the convenience that AI provides, but there is a need at SCH to give clearer guidelines on how students can use the platform responsibly.

Although AI can be a helpful academic tool, it is also considered plagiarism when used improperly, which is an act of academic dishonesty and can even lead to in-school suspension. A sophomore who wished to remain anonymous shared, “It’s cheating if you just copy and paste AI-generated content, but using it for ideas or as a resource is fine.”  They also said, “Teachers can only see when students copy and paste, but there are many more cases when students are abusing AI and teachers don’t catch them.”

Glassman acknowledges that students are confused about how to use AI. They have heard “so many warnings about how it’ll mess your words up or misrepresent you or could be perceived as academic dishonesty. And I really think that it’s on us as an institution to find those pockets of experience where we are intentionally embedding these tools in the students’ learning experience and we’re teaching them to use it in a way that makes them more creative and more productive,” he said.

How are Colleges adapting to AI?

Artificial intelligence is changing how both students and teachers work in colleges and universities by improving learning as a whole, making administration easier, and helping all staff get the support they need. 

The California State University (CSU) system has partnered with OpenAI to create a special version of ChatGPT called ChatGPT Edu across all 23 of its systems on its campuses. ChatGPT Edu is a spinoff of the original, customized specifically for higher education institutions. It limits its services solely to engaging in conversations related to studying, research, learning, and tutoring, and prohibits conversations unrelated to education, such as entertainment and forms of social media. It is primarily designed for learning, tutoring, research, and academic support. The 24/7 availability of educational chatbots such as this one allows students to get help anytime they need it. 

AI is also making life easier for college staff. Colleges collect a lot of data, such as grades, attendance, and course schedules. AI can process all of this information quickly, helping schools make better decisions faster. 

Platforms like ClassRank use data analysis to help faculty and administrators identify trends in a student’s performance and course demand, allowing for better academic planning. AI can also predict which students might need extra support based on their grades and attendance. This helps schools reach out to students early before they fall behind.

 Research from the EDUCAUSE Review showed that AI can analyze student data, such as grades, attendance, and engagement, to find students who might be at risk of failing or dropping out. AI can also make the process of scheduling classes more efficient, helping colleges offer the right courses at the right times. This reduces mistakes and makes things run more smoothly. 

As AI becomes more important, colleges are offering new programs to teach students how to work with AI. For example, some schools offer an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree focusing on AI skills. This program is designed to help students get ready for careers in the AI industry such as software engineering, data science, and robotics engineering. Only certain colleges are accredited to offer these programs, ensuring that students get quality training.

Looking ahead to the future of AI in education, Maille Colin predicted, “I think AI will be a huge part of school just because so many students are using it now.” She added, “I think we’ll just continue to grow and I think eventually, teachers will use AI as a resource.” However, senior Finn Whittle worried, “Teachers won’t be able to do anything about it, because everyone’s going to be using it. At one point I think they’re gonna have to ban electronics altogether in school.” 

It’s a good thing next year’s 9th grade CEL offerings include a course called Introduction to AI.