How AI affects school life

Every post these days starts with the advent of AI. This is no different. This is the great knowledge, savior and destroyer of our times. The way we engage with technology is shifting, presenting us with both opportunities and challenges that we must navigate carefully.

How has the aspect of AI affected kids' lives at school? While it has little to no effect in elementary schools, kids in middle school and high school are using it to complete homework and to study. In many cases, students are leveraging AI tools for research, helping them to gather information swiftly which enhances their learning experience. Yet, this reliance poses the question: are they genuinely understanding the material or merely coasting?

As we know, all adults these days are using more and more AI; it's imperative to learn how to make it work for us. But, it is a debate as to whether the underdeveloped minds of children, which need to learn to innovate and create, will benefit or lose from this venture into AI territory. We must ensure they maintain and develop their critical thinking skills, creativity, and problem-solving abilities and not let AI be the answer to every question.

Having read multiple forums, and in spite of the advent of MCP for AI programming and all the tools like Cursor and GitHub Copilot, it is still important to know that AI can't code complex logic right away and any amount of instructions can be misinterpreted in code. Educators and developers alike must emphasize the need for clear and comprehensive instructions to guide the technologies. This exposes students to the realities of coding while still allowing them to engage with AI in a meaningful way.

It's thrilling to imagine what comes next, a generation of thinkers who won't just use technology as a crutch. Its importnat to track whether the kids will be empowered or disabled by the advent of AI. Only time will tell.