Are fewer students using AI than we thought? Here’s what the research says

Despite the explosion in popularity surrounding ChatGPT in recent months, overall use of it for high school students' assignments may have decreased over the past month, new research suggests.

Some school leaders and faculty are adamant about stamping out the faintest whiff of ChatGPT while others are prepared to sail into an AI revolution. However, new data suggests that students are turning in fewer AI-generated assignments and they are just as concerned about AI as you may be.

Copyleaks, an AI-based company known for its flagship plagiarism detection platform, found in its March report that student assignments found to have used AI dropped among students in both K12 and higher education.

“AI-generated content has been receiving, rightfully so, quite a bit of attention, particularly its role and impact on education,” Copyleaks’ blog about the findings reads. “Considering its wide-ranging implications, many have been asking: just how prevalent is the use of AI-generated content in education? Is this the end of the written assignment? And what can educators do to leverage AI-generated content as a potential learning tool, much like the calculator? ”

Here’s a look at some of the findings from their research:

  • 5.9% of high school students’ assignments contained AI content in March, a decrease of 44.8% from February.
  • 10.4% of college assignments contained AI in March, a decrease of 5.5% since February.

In contrast, recent surveys suggest that teachers have become more accepting of the use of AI in the classroom. In fact, it’s helping to streamline their jobs.

A recent survey from the Walton Family Foundation, a family-led foundation that strives to improve K12 education, revealed that more teachers are using ChatGPT than we thought. One of the most prominent findings from their report suggests that more than half of teachers report already using it, and more than one-third report using it on a daily basis.

Here’s a brief look at that survey’s findings:

  • 30% have used it for lesson planning, with middle school teachers more likely to do so (38%) than high school teachers (35%).
  • 30% use it to come up with creative ideas for classroom activities.
  • 27% use it to obtain background knowledge for lessons.

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Micah Ward
Micah Wardhttps://districtadministration.com
Micah Ward is a District Administration staff writer. He recently earned his master’s degree in Journalism at the University of Alabama. He spent his time during graduate school working on his master’s thesis. He’s also a self-taught guitarist who loves playing folk-style music.

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