School of Course Some Will Cheat
Everyone Wants Something Different from College Students. Enter ChatGPT.
Before 2023, teaching followed a familiar emotional cycle. September brought excitement—meeting new students, preparing lessons, and looking forward to one-on-one conferences. October often meant a dip in energy, but by November, signs of learning appeared, even among reluctant students. The end of the term revitalized the passion for teaching, especially when students showed gratitude. The second semester repeated this pattern, though exhaustion arrived sooner, making recovery feel earned.
Oddly, this cycle always felt new each time. In the middle of a slump, it seemed like no previous group had disappointed so much, nor had I failed them so badly. The intensity of teaching creates a kind of amnesia, where past struggles fade until the next crash. Only those close to me noticed the pattern, reminding me of the reasons I’d forgotten.
Since ChatGPT versions 2 and 3 appeared in the 2022–23 year, a new element entered this cycle. After the semester’s "good feelings," articles about AI-assisted cheating surface, stirring doubts about real learning. Some stories, like a detailed piece from New York magazine, focus on students who openly use AI to bypass assignments.
Take “Lee,” a student at Columbia from a privileged background. His parents run a college-prep consulting business. Lee admitted that many college assignments are “hackable by AI,” so he used it to minimize effort. When asked why he bothered attending an Ivy League school only to offload learning to a robot, he said, “It’s the best place to meet your co-founder and your wife.”
This attitude reveals a certain predictability expected by the well-off, but it also highlights existing problems. Wealthy students have long found ways to cheat, whether by hiring writers or gaming the system. Lee’s blunt approach to AI cheating is almost naive—a product of a system that values credentials and connections more than genuine learning. Even after being reprimanded for using AI to help others cheat, he viewed it as “innovation,” showing a disconnect from the institution’s values.
Lee’s case is familiar and frustrating, but it’s students like Wendy who cause real concern. Her AI-written paper on critical pedagogy—a philosophy about how social forces shape learning—ironically argued that schooling hinders critical thinking. The paper’s opening line questioned whether schooling damages students’ ability to think critically, yet it was produced by a tool that shortcuts the learning process.
What worries me is that this kind of AI-generated work can pass as acceptable. It lacks the usual stiffness of AI writing and focuses on a clear point, unlike many formulaic essays students often produce. If this is what cheating looks like now, how can educators tell who truly wrote their papers? More importantly, how can they trust the sincerity behind student interactions and thank-you notes?
AI tools like ChatGPT offer shortcuts that undermine skill-building and damage trust—the foundation of teaching relationships. Yet, this trust has always been fragile. Teachers are asked to assess work that may be polished by AI, while students juggle demands from anxious parents, corporate interests, and their own uncertain goals.
Society expects students to master several discrete skills, but rarely agrees on what education truly means. Students, caught in this conflict, often take every shortcut they can find. We ask them to work hard but fail to provide clear reasons why. Given these pressures, it’s no surprise that cheating feels like a rational choice—they already feel cheated by the system.
For writers and educators, this calls for honest reflection on the purpose of education and how to engage students meaningfully in a world where AI tools are readily available. Understanding these challenges is crucial for building trust and encouraging genuine learning.
For those interested in learning more about AI tools and ethical applications in education and writing, resources are available at Complete AI Training.
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