In recent years, schools have been experiencing a stark increase in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Whether it be in administrative district offices or in the classroom by either teachers or students, the most concerning use is by influential institutions within the school like representatives and student-run projects.
School institutions such as Associated Student Bodies that routinely put out student related material have always been creative outlets that students can indulge in to develop something for their peers. These types of institutions have evolved into something incredibly influential within their respective schools and thus act as certain role models that embody the school’s values.
So, what does it say about these institutions when they use something like generative AI to create material that was originally meant to be an artistic form of entertainment and representation made by students themselves? It widely depends on the values of each school, but for BVH, it is unacceptable.
For a school whose mission statement is centered around integrity and hard work, the use of AI within its institutions directly contradicts this core tenet. BVH’s student-run institutions are meant to be extracurricular programs that offer students the ability to authentically create entertainment and projects which generate school spirit for fellow peers. However, when AI is involved in the development process of these projects, it takes away the core aspect of artistry that comes from them.
To use AI in these student projects is to take away the authenticity they were meant to foster. Things like podcasts and flyers for entertainment and enrichment are art forms in themselves, as they are creative pieces designed and produced by students. Using AI in an area that is supposed to strengthen human creativity diminishes not only its genuineness, but also its value.
Generative AI simply spits out whatever prompt was given to it. In its actuality, there is no real thought or effort put into the response it generates. The soullessness of AI takes away the unity and passion school institutions were created to stimulate because AI does not create, it is a function that takes without permission. It steals other artists’ hard work just to morph it into an anomaly where no effort or real purpose was genuinely and thoughtfully put into it.
It is important to understand AI is not and never will be a substitute for a student’s hard work or individuality, but students can easily be influenced into accepting that narrative when material created by influential student institutions dish out content generated by AI. These school institutions are looked up to by peers and act as role models because they directly create content for their fellow students. So when they indulge in unauthentic material, they are only providing the example that it is normal and acceptable to put minimal effort into something so important. It implies that school representatives do not care about the real meaning and legitimacy of what they make, and if they do not care, why should students?
Student creation is not the only thing AI takes away from the media these institutions produce. The purpose of these institutions in the first place is to create a sense of community and student pride, but using AI takes away the pride of the work. AI does away with the tender care student institutions ought to be putting in and resorts to material that has been dulled by the perpetrator’s divergence from respect.
Such apathy has no place in a school that revolves around honesty and genuine hard work. BVH is a place where students practice and develop skills by their own hands and create with their own minds. It is no place for generative AI, and never will be.
