Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of machines to perform tasks that humans can complete themselves. It’s kind of creepy when you think about it…

AI has allegedly been used by students to write essays and complete assignments, and here is what teachers have to say. 

Elizabeth Howell, a junior-level English teacher, said that the most obvious AI-completed essay was a submission for her final exam, a reflective essay, which she received last spring semester, 2023.

“It’s the person’s own opinion. The essay was supposed to have provided the student with the opportunity to tell how they have learned to read better, write better, speaking skills, et cetera” Howell said.

After reading just the two first sentences, she immediately knew it was AI-generated.

“The first sentence read, ‘It was a transformative experience for me’” said Howell. She also said it was obvious to her that the essay was not written by a junior in high school.

“That’s not saying that juniors in high school are stupid in any way, but the level of sophistication was clearly collegiate-level writing,” said Howell.

When confronted, she said that the student immediately confessed that he had used AI to complete the assignment.

“I tell them that after 35 years of teaching, I know what your junior writing looks like, and I know immediately if it’s AI,” said Howell.

Natalie Gregg, a freshman English teacher, has also had experience with AI-generated assignments. She said that the instance that stands out the most to her was multiple submissions for a project over “The Odyssey.”

Gregg said that this experience stood out as especially disappointing to her because she had been under the impression her students were enjoying the project and having fun. 

Imagine the feeling of coming home after a long day and hearing, “I’m disappointed.” Now imagine how your teachers feel.

Gregg recounted another experience during her “Romeo and Juliet” instruction where AI was used. 

“I had an incident in the spring and somebody had done an assignment that was AI generated and it used quotes that it made up,” said Gregg. “I teach that play five classes a day, I knew everything in it, and so I was like hmm this is suspicious.”

Teachers like Howell and Gregg have become increasingly aware of the indicators of AI-generated content. In some instances, this is work submitted at a more advanced level than a high schooler would normally achieve, and in other instances, the content the AI produces is questionable at best.

AI scopes the entire internet. You can try to have it generate an original, specific essay for you, but good luck. By the way, if you were wondering, this headline was generated by AI.