AI as a Tool for Efficiency and Learning

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming education, and while some critics fear that AI may weaken students’ ability to think critically, others argue that AI can be an invaluable learning tool when used correctly. Much like the calculator did not eliminate the need for mathematical knowledge and Google did not make research skills obsolete, AI does not have to replace critical thinking—it can enhance it.

AI as a Learning Assistant, Not a Replacement

Many educators believe that AI can be integrated into the learning process without replacing independent thinking.Elementary school teacher Shannon Morris explains that AI tools like ChatGPT help students brainstorm ideas, generate research topics, and provide real-time feedback on their writing. Rather than completing assignments for students, AI can act as a tutor, answering questions and offering guidance in a way that makes learning more accessible.

Additionally, AI benefits students with different learning styles. It provides personalized resources, interactive activities, and instant explanations to help students grasp difficult concepts. Instead of waiting for teacher feedback, AI allows students to refine their work in real-time, improving the learning experience.

"AI isn't about doing the work for students," says education researcher Carri Spector. "It’s about giving them tools to work smarter, refine their thinking, and engage with material in new ways."

The Advantages of AI in Education

AI’s role in education is expanding, offering several benefits that can reshape the learning environment:

✔ Personalized Learning – AI can tailor content to individual student needs based on learning trends and performance data, making lessons more engaging and motivating.

✔ Instant Feedback – AI can quickly evaluate student work, highlighting strengths and weaknesses so students can improve in real time.

✔ Inclusive Learning – AI provides assistive technology such as text-to-speech, speech recognition, and visual recognition, helping students with disabilities or language barriers.

✔ Greater Access to Resources – AI-powered platforms such as Canva Magic Write, Curipod, Eduaide, and Quizzizz offer a range of interactive tools that support instruction and engagement.

✔ Understanding Abstract Concepts – AI-generated visuals can help simplify complex ideas, making them more accessible and easier to grasp.

✔ Encouraging Critical Thinking – When used correctly, AI can lead to classroom discussions about ethics, misinformation, and responsible technology use, strengthening students’ ability to analyze information critically.

AI in the Workplace: Preparing for the Future

Beyond school, AI is already being used in professional settings to enhance productivity and decision-making. Many companies use AI to analyze data, improve workflow, and assist with content creation. Employees who know how to work with AI rather than against it may find themselves more prepared for the modern workforce.

AI also streamlines tedious, repetitive tasks such as scheduling meetings, organizing emails, and summarizing documents. Rather than replacing human workers, AI allows them to focus on higher-level thinking and creativity.Learning to use AI effectively in school may give students a competitive edge in future careers.

The Debate Over AI Reliance

While AI has its advantages, concerns remain over students becoming too dependent on it. Critics warn that if students rely on AI for answers without engaging with the material, they may struggle with deeper learning and problem-solving. "AI should be a tool, not a crutch," says Harvard professor Ying Xu. "The key is for students to use it responsibly, ensuring that it supports their learning rather than replacing their effort."

Some schools have implemented strict AI policies to prevent misuse, while others are working to integrate AI in ways that complement traditional learning. The debate over AI’s role in education continues, but one thing is clear: AI is here to stay, and students must learn how to navigate it wisely.

The Role of AI in Learning

AI can be a powerful educational tool, but only when used to supplement—not replace—student effort. While it offers benefits such as instant feedback, personalized learning, and improved efficiency, students must still develop critical thinking skills and personal accountability.

By learning how to balance AI with independent work, students can gain the best of both worlds—technological support and strong problem-solving abilities. Schools, educators, and students must work together to ensure that AI remains a tool for success rather than a shortcut to answers.

How AI is affecting the way kids learn to read and write

By: Kayla Jimenez                          February 22, 2025

As artificial intelligence continues to influence education, teachers across the country are debating whether it enhances or weakens student learning. A national survey from RAND Corporation found that 40% of English teachers have experimented with AI tools, using them to generate discussion prompts, assess writing, and provide feedback.

However, some educators warn that over-reliance on AI could negatively affect literacy skills and critical thinking. Federal education data shows that reading and writing scores have not fully recovered since the COVID-19 pandemic, raising concerns about whether technology is making students less engaged in deep reading and independent writing.

Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, attributes part of this decline to changes in how students interact with text.

“This is not just a pandemic story… Students are reading on devices, but they are not engaging with text in the same way as they used to,” Carr said.

Some teachers have embraced AI as a writing tutor, helping students refine their work. However, other educators worry that AI is replacing student effort, particularly when it comes to developing ideas and structuring arguments.

AI in the Classroom: A Useful Tool or a Shortcut?

Lisa Parry, a 12th-grade teacher in South Dakota, has used AI to help students generate fresh ideas in writing. Rather than assigning another generic book report on Fast Food Nation, she instructed students to use ChatGPT to explore unique angles for their essays. The AI suggested topics like how McDonald's uses sugar to enhance its products, leading students to explore new perspectives.

Parry, like many teachers, sees AI as a starting point for brainstorming and organization but maintains that students must engage in independent writing to develop essential skills.

“If it’s about the writing of the actual paper, then you cannot have ChatGPT do it,” Parry said. “The middle belongs to the individual showcasing their writing abilities.”

Despite AI’s benefits, some teachers have grown frustrated with its role in student learning. Katie Thomas, a high school English teacher in New Jersey, banned AI-generated writing in her classroom after discovering that many students had used ChatGPT to write entire essays.

"I'm sick of constantly putting things into AI checkers," she said. "AI is taking away from my planning time and students' education. If they don’t practice writing on their own, they won’t be able to think critically in the future.”

The Debate Over AI’s Role in Learning

• Supporters argue that AI enhances education by providing instant feedback, helping struggling students, and personalizing learning experiences.

• Critics worry that AI is undermining deep engagement with reading and writing, leading to passive learning and declining literacy rates.

• Some teachers believe AI is a tool that, if used responsibly, can improve education, while others fear that students will become dependent on AI rather than developing their own skills.

As schools continue to integrate AI, the question remains: Does AI help students grow, or is it creating a generation that relies too much on technology?

The Importance of Productive Struggle in Learning

By Rishi Sriram                          January 3, 2023

In an era of instant answers, many students turn to artificial intelligence or shortcuts to complete assignments. However, true learning comes through productive struggle—the process of working through challenges, making mistakes, and developing critical thinking skills. While frustration may feel discouraging, research shows that grappling with problems strengthens memory, problem-solving skills, and perseverance.

Why Struggle Leads to Real Learning

When students work through difficulties, they develop resilience and learn to adapt to challenges rather than giving up. AI can provide quick solutions, but relying on it prevents students from building the cognitive skills necessary for success. In the real world, challenges won’t come with instant answers—perseverance and problem-solving are essential.

Students who embrace struggle:

• Strengthen critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

• Learn that effort leads to success, not just intelligence.

• Retain knowledge longer by engaging actively instead of passively copying.

In contrast, those who depend on AI miss opportunities to develop independence and struggle when faced with new challenges they haven’t truly understood.

The Risks of Avoiding Struggle

Not all struggle is productive, but avoiding challenges altogether leads to:

• Weaker problem-solving skills—AI won’t always be available to do the thinking for you.

• A lack of confidence—students who don’t engage with their own work struggle when asked to think independently.

• Short-term success but long-term failure—memorization or AI-generated responses might help in the moment, but true mastery comes from effort and persistence.

Productive struggle may feel uncomfortable, but it prepares students for real-world success. Instead of relying on AI for easy answers, students should embrace challenges, push through frustration, and take ownership of their learning—because in the end, struggle is what leads to growth.

AI 'hallucinations' in court papers spell trouble for lawyers

By Sara Merken                               February 18, 2025

U.S. personal injury law firm Morgan & Morgan sent an urgent email,  this month to its more than 1,000 lawyers: Artificial intelligence can invent fake case law, and using made-up information in a court filing could get you fired. 

A federal judge in Wyoming had just threatened to sanction two lawyers at the firm who included fictitious case citations in a lawsuit against Walmart (WMT.N), . One of the lawyers admitted in court filings last week that he used an AI program that "hallucinated" the cases and apologized for what he called an inadvertent mistake. 

AI's penchant for generating legal fiction in case filings has led courts around the country to question or discipline lawyers in at least seven cases over the last two years, and created a new high-tech headache for litigants and judges, Reuters found. 

The Walmart case stands out because it involves a well-known law firm and a big corporate defendant. But examples like it have cropped up in all kinds of lawsuits since chatbots like ChatGPT ushered in the AI era, highlighting a new litigation risk. 

A Morgan & Morgan spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Walmart declined to comment. The judge has not yet ruled whether to discipline the lawyers in the Walmart case, which involved an allegedly defective hoverboard toy. 

Advances in generative AI are helping reduce the time lawyers need to research and draft legal briefs, leading many law firms to contract with AI vendors or build their own AI tools. Sixty-three percent of lawyers,  surveyed by Reuters' parent company Thomson Reuters last year said they have used AI for work, and 12% said they use it regularly. 

Generative AI, however, is known to confidently make up facts, and lawyers who use it must take caution, legal experts said. AI sometimes produces false information, known as "hallucinations" in the industry, because the models generate responses based on statistical patterns learned from large datasets rather than by verifying facts in those datasets. 

Attorney ethics rules require lawyers to vet and stand by their court filings or risk being disciplined. The American Bar Association told its 400,000 members last year that those obligations extend to "even an unintentional misstatement" produced through AI. 

The consequences have not changed just because legal research tools have evolved, said Andrew Perlman, dean of Suffolk University's law school and an advocate of using AI to enhance legal work.

 "When lawyers are caught using ChatGPT or any generative AI tool to create citations without checking them, that's incompetence, just pure and simple," Perlman said. 

'LACK OF AI LITERACY' 

In one of the earliest court rebukes over attorneys' use of AI, a federal judge in Manhattan in June 2023 fined two New York lawyers $5,000 for citing cases that were invented by AI in a personal injury case against an airline. 

A different New York federal judge last year considered imposing sanctions in a case involving Michael Cohen, the former lawyer and fixer for Donald Trump, who said he mistakenly gave his own attorney fake case citations that the attorney submitted in Cohen's criminal tax and campaign finance case. 

Cohen, who used Google's AI chatbot Bard, and his lawyer were not sanctioned, but the judge called the episode "embarrassing." 

In November, a Texas federal judge ordered a lawyer who cited nonexistent cases and quotations in a wrongful termination lawsuit to pay a $2,000 penalty and attend a course about generative AI in the legal field. 

A federal judge in Minnesota last month said a misinformation expert had destroyed his credibility with the court after he admitted to unintentionally citing fake, AI-generated citations in a case involving a "deepfake" parody of Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Harry Surden, a law professor at the University of Colorado's law school who studies AI and the law, said he recommends lawyers spend time learning "the strengths and weaknesses of the tools." He said the mounting examples show a "lack of AI literacy" in the profession, but the technology itself is not the problem.

 "Lawyers have always made mistakes in their filings before AI," he said. "This is not new."