With an increase in artificial intelligence readily available to the public, it’s important to ask how it will affect Hershey High School. Will it be helpful, or harmful? 

After speaking with English teacher Robert Sterner and HHS Principal Lindsay Schmidt, it’s become clear that it will most likely be a bit of both. This year is not the first Hershey High School has seen AI in action, but with an increase in its popularity, AI is becoming an increasingly popular topic of discussion. 

A major concern that has been brought up is the use of AI for English and Social Studies assignments. “We often see students using writing from resources such as ChatGPT and claiming it as their own,” said Schmidt. 

This sentiment was also shared by English teacher Robert Sterner. “We’ve had to rewrite the English department policy to include a paragraph about Artificial intelligence,” said Sterner. He continued to share, “when it comes to students writing, we’re going to do a lot less writing on the iPads and a lot more writing on paper.” 

This strategy is currently being used by many HHS teachers, in the hopes that students will not be tempted to use AI platforms to write their work for them. Although there are AI detecting tools available on the internet, it’s been found they are not the most accurate. 

It’s a shared concern that the use of AI detectors often claim the use of AI on pieces that have been written in the own words of students. This error can cause a large problem for students as they can be wrongfully accused and face unnecessary consequences.

“The AI detectors that are out there aren’t very great. We ran the Constitution through a detector, and it found AI generated content, which just isn’t possible,” said Sterner. 

While the use of AI is typically frowned upon, it does have the potential to benefit us. However, its abilities must be researched and must be deemed as safe before anything can be determined. 

“I think in education AI can make our lives better, but it’s not a tool that we’re comfortable enough to use just yet,” said Schmidt. She continued to say, “currently, the staff is forming an AI task force to let us have a better understanding about the appropriate use of AI and its implications. We also plan to involve students to better define what role AI will play within Hershey High School.”