25 students from Journalism and the Falcon voice their opinions on the use of AI at Friends Select.

Paloma Puig, Grade 12

I don’t think students should be able to use AI unless appropriate to the assignment they’re doing. Using AI constantly can create over-reliance on it and can weaken your writing skills. It also does not allow you to think for yourself and gives you ideas, so your work may be unoriginal. If students constantly use it in their school work, it promotes laziness and unmotivation. However, there are students who use it in ways that help their learning, and AI is not always used for cheating. In 2025, it is almost unavoidable as technology has advanced, so it is important to address this issue in schools and learn how to use it effectively, as it is not inherently evil. If we learn how to navigate it in a healthy way, it can be a useful resource.

Khalea Robinson, Grade 12

I think that students should be able to use AI with some limitations. AI is a new technology that is only going to become a bigger and bigger part of our society, which is why I think it’s important that students learn now how to navigate it and use it to their advantage. That said, I do not think that people should use AI in an academically dishonest way or in a way that has ChatGPT do an entire assignment for you. AI should be used as a tool for so many other parts of the process, such as forming example problems, checking work, studying, and assisting in brainstorming. The unfortunate reality, however, is that students will abuse the capabilities of AI and won’t follow those guidelines. It’s much easier for a student to just type their exact essay prompt into the chat box and have it written for them in seconds. I don’t think that at FSS they teach us how to use AI, and I think that they definitely should. It’s so important for our futures and even in preparation for college to know how AI operates, all the ways it can be used, and where it can be faulty. It’s going to surround us more and more as it further advances, and students here should be given the opportunity in school to experiment with it and really understand it so we will be able to navigate it in the near future.

Maddie Cohen, Grade 12

AI can be a difficult thing to navigate, given it is so new and can be considered cheating when students use it. There are helpful ways that AI can be used; however, it is important to use it with caution. It should not be used for writing entire essays or to have it do complete homework assignments for you; however, there are some instances where it can be helpful. For example, in the past, I have used ChatGPT to help quiz myself for my upcoming tests. With the power of AI, I can put a study guide into it and have it compute a helpful and useful study guide that has effectively helped me study for my quizzes and tests in various subjects. Some students have become over-reliant on these tools, and it is important to set boundaries, which can be very difficult. No matter how many times a teacher tells students NOT to use ChatGPT, I do not think that the message is heard. I think it is important to use the tools that we have to our advantage while at the same time, not letting AI take over our brains. Something to think about is that maybe we should be taught how to use AI in powerful and useful ways that can benefit students.

Daphne Klose, Grade 12

I think no matter what people say, there will be students who find a way to use AI anyway. I’ve witnessed people online who have become very reliant on AI, which is kind of scary to think about, considering how new it truly is. Personally, I have never truly used something like ChatGPT for more than when my friends type “write me a story about __” and insert their names. I can absolutely see the benefits of using AI for organization or similar things, but I think when you have the opportunity and ability not to use AI, you shouldn’t. People should have a baseline understanding of how to use AI in beneficial ways. However, overusing AI just hinders your existing abilities. It’s important to understand how AI works when every website and social media page is implementing AI. I’ve absolutely had relatives ask me to teach them how to use it to “make their lives easier”. I think with the advancements of technology, we need to be aware of how to use the newer forms of AI, but we shouldn’t become reliant on them.

Isaiah Marshall, Grade 12

AI is like the new wave of technology, and I feel like each year our world technology gets better and stronger. I strongly feel that we should use it because, if anything, it’s making us understand how to be good researchers. AI is good for us and our learning because its dynamics make it really possible for us to understand what our teachers are saying on a higher level. AI has everything and answers all our questions in a complex and intelligent way. To me, this is the best thing we have to offer when it comes to modern-day technology. It’s like this robot has every answer to each question we ask it. AI is something that we should be taught to use. The reason why is that, even though it’s giving us the correct answers, we are still learning the basics, like using proper grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. ChatGPT is really helpful, and teachers should let us use it because it helps us a lot.

Sam Goldwert, Grade 12

Telling students outright to never use ChatGPT will never be effective. I think that teachers should embrace the development of artificial intelligence and help students figure out appropriate and inappropriate uses of AI tools in school. AI should be treated just like any other tool that exists in the world, like textbooks and Google. By that reasoning, it would be appropriate for math teachers to ask students not to use AI to give them the answers, both because students won’t be learning by doing the process themselves and because AI is frequently incorrect (There are two Rs in the word “strawberry,” infamously). However, AI can be a powerful tool. Personally, I have used ChatGPT to help me create templates for emailing people I don’t know, and that has been very helpful to me as someone who struggles with tone in digital communication. I’ve also experimented outside of school with asking ChatGPT to explain information in resources like scientific journals because I don’t yet have the experience to be able to understand the language used, but I have the knowledge to understand the content when it is explained in simpler terms. 

Liam Danford, Grade 12

Personally, AI helps me in many ways. It allows me to write more fluidly and be more organized, something I have had problems with in the past. I merely let it correct small grammatical errors after my writing process, which keeps my voice original while also making it more streamlined for the reader. I can see why this privilege can be abused, though, and results in people being overreliant on its resources. This overreliance can fall into later academic careers, like college. If you use AI for everything, you’re not actually learning yourself, which is something that could be dangerous when giving out college degrees. Teaching students to use it as a tool instead of an easy way out is the best way to go. In an age where technology is rampant and it is hard to censor certain items, we have to learn how to roll with the punches and adapt to new innovations that may change the way we teach.

Zaire Reid, Grade 12

I think students, if they’re taught to use it properly, should be able to use AI at certain times, depending on what the assignment is. Perhaps in the future schools can have a class for freshmen that teaches them how to use AI whilst maintaining academic integrity. Overall, though, I feel like AI is probably one of the best tools for conveying information. I used to always say before the invention of ChatGPT, “I wish I could look something up, and instead of Google giving me the run around, they’d just tell me a straightforward answer.” Now, with AI, you can prompt it to answer your question in “one word” or “one sentence,” making it easier and faster to look up or answer a question you may have about a subject. As of right now, I think schools need to do a better job of teaching students how to use AI productively.

Sofia Rouco, Grade 12

I think not using AI is a waste of resources. The world around us is developing rapidly, and everyone is using AI. Although it can weaken your basic skills, AI is a faster and quicker way and with it being everywhere, those writing skills aren’t as important as they used to be. Students should be able to complete assignments without AI, but they shouldn’t be banned from it, considering all big businesses are using AI for their day to day tasks. Students should be taught how to use AI correctly instead of schools completely banning it. Schools ignore AI unless it is to ban it, but we all know teachers are using AI as well. There’s definitely a limit to which AI should be used but not teaching students how to use AI would be doing us a disservice. AI is everywhere now so we should use it to our advantage.

Cole Semel, Grade 12

I think that students should be able to use AI under certain restrictions. In most cases already, I feel as if students are mostly using AI like ChatGPT to come up with ideas for assignments rather than using it to write an entire essay for them. I also know it can help to provide quick grammar and punctuation fixes for writing, although most teachers advise against that. AI can definitely weaken students’ ability to write at a high level however, because writing in your own words and building those key skills for writing is the only way you will get better, not by having AI write for you. In my opinion, students at FSS should be able to use AI for idea generation, and note organization, as those are simple tools that aren’t exploiting the AI too much. I do not think students should be allowed to write papers or complete entire assignments using AI, as that will weaken their writing skills and ultimately be a form of academic dishonesty.

Olukayode Ekundare, Grade 12

I think that (generative) AI can be a good tool when you have the right restrictions in a school environment. There are ethical concerns about the use of AI that go far beyond the scope of whether it’s appropriate to use it in the classroom. There are questions about the validity of things that the AI spits out, the amount of energy it takes, or the use of content/data that was not consensually given to the said AI’s company. But when using AI in general, I think there are some obviously great non-damaging use cases. For music analysis, AI is a great tool for separating different parts of a song or analyzing the chords. Or, for image editing, I’m sure that there’s something that could be considered artificial intelligence that can be used for separating background from foreground or similar things.

Susanna Harries, Grade 9

Generative AI in school is a difficult topic. I think that in a school environment, the best way to use it is to support learning (studying, learning, filling gaps in lessons). Let’s say you’re having trouble understanding a topic in class, and I think it is perfectly acceptable to ask an AI questions to better understand. As for using AI to do projects for you, such as writing assignments and essays, I think it should not be permitted. Writing is a skill, and the whole point of these assignments is to improve your writing abilities. So, if you have someone or something else to do your writing for you, the assignment is pointless. Not to mention, there is potential plagiarism that comes from AI due to the way it gains information. Overall AI can be used for positive purposes but should not be used for assignments that should involve human work/writing.

Maya Vakharia, Grade 11

I believe students should be able to use Generative AI. I think that AI is not the problem; it all depends on how it is used. AI has helped me with many beneficial things, like studying or explaining complicated subjects. It can also be used to find resources for specific topics. However, I do understand the faculty’s hesitance regarding students’ usage of AI. People may begin to rely on AI too much or use it to plagiarize, which can damage their learning. By using AI to complete all of one’s assignments, they are not allowing themselves to fully understand concepts and practice problem-solving skills. AI also isn’t always 100% accurate, so students need to be mindful or do additional research before immediately trusting what it says. Overall, I believe that students should be able to use Generative AI as long as it is being used in ways that are beneficial to their learning.

Joely Kaplan, Grade 9

I think that AI should not be allowed in school except for certain uses, such as using AI to create flashcards. Using AI to create flashcards is a useful tool for studying, and it saves time. You should be allowed to input your notes into an AI and create effective flashcards to study for quizzes and tests. I believe that AI can be used but should not be submitted and passed off as your own. Using AI to write an entire essay should not be allowed, but AI can be a powerful tool to fill the gaps in your understanding of a topic or to brainstorm ideas.

Carl Heyne, Grade 10

There are very few use cases where I believe AI could be used, such as summarizing or organizing things that the user has written themselves and aren’t being submitted to a teacher. Academic integrity is a somewhat complicated topic, but in my opinion, AI should never be used in anything that is turned in as a student’s own work. Additionally, AI should never, in any capacity, replace teachers. It shouldn’t be used to learn content (at least the first time through), as it has little actual understanding of the content it is regurgitating from the internet.

Maddie Orr, Grade 9

I think AI should be allowed in schools, but only in certain situations. I don’t think you should use AI to come up with ideas and do the work for you, but I think it should be okay to help you study a little bit and just have fun if you want. For work that you are submitting, I don’t think you should use AI for any reason except for very specific things with teacher’s permission. I think if you use AI for any schoolwork, your teachers should know.

Anna Masino, Grade 10

I believe that students should not use AI that often, but it can be useful in certain situations. Generative AI like ChatGPT, can be good for summarizing notes and giving you ideas to start with, but it becomes a problem if students use it for every single assignment. Having an overreliance on AI can stunt a person’s problem-solving skills and discourage them from thinking critically. AI should be only used as a tool to help you learn, not to do all your thinking for you. You don’t learn anything by using AI for all of your assignments, and by the time you graduate, you’ll be unprepared.

Duc Tran, Grade 11

Students should use AI because they can take information from AI like ChatGPT but not take a whole quote from AI, we have to summarize and write it in our own words. They can use it in their class to understand the problem they are learning. A math problem is an example of how to use AI in a good way, but if we are writing an essay, we have to use our Ideas to do it, not AI Generate.

Serena Krouk, Grade 9

AI can be a very useful tool to help study: I have seen many TikToks about people motivating themselves by sending their in-class notes to AI to change it into a more digestible topic. Such as “change my World War 1 notes into a Gossip Girl premise.” When it comes to studying for a test, I think that the use of AI is just another way a student can develop their understanding, on the same level as using flashcards or creating a Quizlet. I believe that during an in-school assignment, generative AI should not be tolerated. If Everyone in a class is writing an essay, and a student decides to breach academic honesty by using AI. This is unfair to all those in the class who did the work themselves. Using AI to submit something is the same thing as cheating.

Jessica Li, Grade 10

I think students should only use AI for grammar checks, nothing else. People won’t be able to learn being reliant on artificial intelligence. However, since AI is becoming more prominent in schools, people should learn to coexist with it.

Abby Davenport, Grade 10

I don’t think that there is any practical use of AI in the high school academic setting unless it contributes to a course of study as an experimental tool.

Ruby Doggett, Grade 10

I think that we should not be allowed to use AI at all because I think that we would never learn to do it ourselves, and also we would never be challenged, which is how we grow as people. Because yes, it’s true that AI will be here for a long time, so we will be able to use it into adulthood but school teaches you how to think, and AI doesn’t let you do that. 

Chloe Kozuch, Grade 9

AI use in school is a controversial topic. Although some uses of AI are unethical and deceitful, such as using it to write essays for students or do homework for them, other uses are helpful and beneficial. In fact, some teachers welcome students to use AI to better understand difficult topics from class. For instance, before a math quiz, my teacher continuously encourages us to use AI to our advantage. Not only can it summarize and conceptualize complex math topics, but it can also generate problems for practice. I think this type of AI use is great for students. Then, the users are no longer utilizing AI to do their work for them, but using it to help them understand the concepts so they can do the work on their own. When used correctly, AI can be a fantastic asset for students. We should embrace it and teach our students to use it with integrity, as fearing and leaning away from AI will only encourage students to use it dishonorably.

Leah Pessin, Grade 10

I think AI is kinda cool. I mean, who doesn’t like all the world’s information at their fingertips? It can explain a concept to you like your 4, or write an essay you forgot about in 30 seconds. The issue is, you’re gonna have the brain functions of a 4-year-old if you don’t actually learn to do your own work. I use it to explain chemistry to me.

Sophia Le, Grade 12

AI is not going anywhere, and as much as I fear it, I think we should learn how to use it. AI can be a very helpful tool for helping students learn. However, it becomes disadvantageous when students use it for answers. It should not be used to write, plagiarize, or cheat. But, if students can use it to supplement their learning or help clarify material not covered in class, I support the use of AI. Banning AI now will inevitably bring issues later on. We should learn how to adapt.