Over the past three and a half years, since the creation of ChatGPT on November 30th, 2022, there has been an uptick in AI use on assignments, tests and more at Westtown School. From ChatGPT to Gemini, AI has become a convenient and useful tool in distributing answers to questions efficiently. Teachers and students alike use AI for an assortment of reasons, but many students at Westtown have faced disciplinary consequences for the misuse and academic dishonesty it has caused.
Convenience has played a role in the AI use amongst students by allowing them to have easy accessibility to information quickly that is summarized concisely. As AI continues to grow, students will continue to use it, and as the technology develops, Westtown will have to make changes to adapt to the new era of the internet.
The development of AI can come with challenges. When asked about the biggest downside of AI, ChatGPT itself writes, “If I had to name one biggest downside, it wouldn’t be job loss or killer robots. It’d be slow erosion of human agency — quietly, comfortably, with our consent.” So, AI itself believes that the invention of a tool that forms its own cohesive thoughts can hamper the critical thinking of the people that rely on AI.
For Westtown students, disciplinary actions follow academic dishonesty involving AI. Westtown English Department Chair Adam Salo says, “We started figuring out what a policy might be for if we suspect AI use, what those steps are, and then what happens next in terms of linking up with deans and stuff for any kind of discipline process or next repercussion.” If a teacher suspects a student uses AI, they must go through with the process that follows. Ben D’Alessandro, a Westtown student who serves on Disciplinary Council says, “I think using AI, generating something and then submitting that as your own work is definitely cheating, and I think that just falls into the umbrella of that kind of dishonesty, and the way we handle that right now, I think, is fine.” If it is confirmed AI has been used on an assignment, that student will be sent to Discipline Council and a punishment will be selected for that student depending on the gravity of the situation.
AI also causes a decline in critical thinking skills. Westtown’s Director of Information Technology, Matthew Herrera, shares that “part of the concern that I would have about students using it is before they’ve necessarily developed the critical thinking skills, the communication and writing skills, and all those kinds of things is that they’re already using that as a substitution. It means that you’re not working those muscles and you’re not developing those skills on your own.” High school is a developmental stage in students’ lives, where they learn how to think for themselves, find their voices and trust their own judgement. AI is a shortcut that hinders these abilities. As AI continues adapting, Westtown will continue sending students to Discipline Council and taking the appropriate next steps, which can be as severe as dismissal.
