Artificial intelligence (AI) is something I’ve seen and experienced up close, and it doesn’t come with flashing lights. It creeps in silently. Some people see it as a harmless tool, but I have witnessed the side no one dares to mention: the way it slips into the classroom like a parasite, feeding on students’ effort, draining their creativity and leaving behind emptiness where thought used to be.
In school, I’ve seen that students use AI in a way that doesn’t actually help them learn. Instead of trying to solve problems, they copy full answers from AI without understanding a single step. I’ve even caught myself tempted to do the same when I was tired or didn’t feel like working hard.
At first, using AI feels like a shortcut, but the truth is, it makes you weaker. I’ve noticed that when students depend too much on AI, they lose confidence in solving problems on their own. Some classmates even struggle to write essays or think creatively because they’re so used to letting AI do the work. It makes school less about learning and more about just getting the assignment done.
Outside of school, I have observed how AI is creating problems in society. For example, some jobs are being replaced by machines, and people around me often talk about feeling worried for the future of their work. People are becoming too used to technology doing everything for them, that they stop using their own judgment altogether. At times, even simple conversations get replaced by people relying on AI-generated messages instead of speaking in their own words. To me, it feels like we’re losing a bit of what makes us human.
Based on my own observations, the biggest problem is not AI itself, but how people use it. Too many are leaning on it as a crutch instead of treating it as a tool. If the use of AI continues and is normalized, school may produce students who don’t know how to think deeply, and society could end up with people who are unable to function without technology doing the hard work. That’s not the kind of future anyone should want.
AI is powerful, but it’s also dangerous if it replaces human effort and creativity. My experiences have shown me how it weakens schools and communities. We need to make sure AI serves us, not the other way around.
This article was edited by Kate Duncan, Emily Logan and Polly Greaves.
![Looking at one of her students as they speak, Delaney Alford sits next to freshman Saanvi Vipin during their Hope Squad period. During this class, the group played the game ‘imposter’ to bond. “I think Hope Squad is such a good class and such a good program to not only teach [mental health awareness] to the kids that are in the class, but also to push that out to any and everybody else,” Alford said. “What better way for people to hear about it than from their peers?”](https://eaglenationonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IMG_0008-1-1200x800.jpeg)
