The Real Problem With AI in Schools Isn't Cheating-It's Students Who Won't Try
The worry about students using AI to dodge homework misses the actual danger. According to Navin Gurnaney, CEO of Code Ninjas, the larger threat is students who reach for an AI chatbot before attempting to solve a problem themselves.
A Study.com survey found that 89% of college students used ChatGPT for homework within months of its public release. Forty-eight percent used it for at-home tests. Fifty-three percent used it to write essays. Three years later, those numbers have likely climbed.
But the percentage of students automatically defaulting to AI-without trying first-is the number that matters most.
"If kids are being taught or being steered in the direction of, 'Hey, this is a cool tool you can just use and you'll get the answers,' and that's what you see most kids doing, then they learn nothing," Gurnaney said.
Building With AI, Not Consuming It
The solution is to teach students to build with AI rather than passively use it. Gurnaney advocates for hands-on learning: understanding how language models work, creating images with AI tools, working with sensors, visualizing data.
"Through all these activities, they learn the fundamental principles," he said.
This reframes the divide in education. It's not between students who use AI and those who don't. It's between those who consume it and those who create with it.
One group outsources learning. The other accelerates it.
The Job Market Question
Parents face a dual anxiety: concern about their own employment as companies announce AI-related layoffs, and uncertainty about what jobs will exist for their children.
Gurnaney's answer is direct. "If you're just following AI and just using it and being a passive consumer, then you certainly place yourself at a great disadvantage," he said. "Whereas if you know how to create with it, now you're leading."
What Future-Ready Looks Like
Gurnaney identifies a foundation of skills that separate those who adapt from those who fall behind: critical thinking, logic, problem-solving, communication, adaptability, and resilience.
Grit ranks among the top three or four differentiators. Understanding how AI actually works-including why language models confidently produce false information-sits on top of that base.
His advice to parents: start early. Rather than keeping children away from AI out of fear, get them close to it. Understanding the technology matters more than mastering any single tool.
He described a 9-year-old named Adam at a Code Ninjas location in Georgia who earned the right to teach younger students. Adam left with his arms raised, shouting "I am sensei today." His mother watched from the waiting area with tears in her eyes.
The rapid expansion of AI means schools need more students who feel that kind of confidence-not anxiety-about the technology shaping their future.
Learn more about AI for Education and Coding with AI.
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