Artificial intelligence: you either love it or hate it. At Maize High School, it has become a growing trend for students to use AI to complete homework, finish projects, and tackle other school-related activities.

Principal Dr. Botts expressed concerns about the over-reliance on AI, saying, “I want students to learn, I want them to grow as people. AI is not going anywhere — it’s going to continue to evolve and become a more and more powerful tool. But if we don’t have, as human beings, the ability to create and think on our own, then that’s when it’s at its worst.”

As the older generation leaves high school and the younger generation enters middle and high school, there is a shift in how students use technology, with AI becoming an integral resource.

For English teachers, distinguishing between AI-generated work and student-written content is still relatively easy. Maize High School English teacher Sandra Nitcher noted, “It still sounds like a computer wrote it and sort of follows a formula — almost as if they say first this, second this, third this. It doesn’t sound like a typical teenage person would be writing it or saying it.”

To combat the rise of AI-assisted cheating, teachers are increasingly turning to AI detectors. They believe these tools will help students stop procrastinating and complete assignments on their own.