With continual integration of artificial intelligence, administrators at Plano ISD has restricted ChatGPT on school-issued computers during school hours during the 2025-2026 school year.
Though the banning of generative AI such as such ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot has impacted students, it hasn’t stopped all from the use of it.
“Tools like AI aren’t going away anytime soon, so students need to know how to interact and know what to expect from them, but in the current education system, AI is being used to do the work for them, and that’s not the point of learning,” Campus Technology Assistant Jermey Loveday.
Even with the rise of artificial intelligence, it is important for students to know how to use AI efficiently. As Loveday said, the technology is still buggy and isn’t meant to be fully trusted yet.
AI is intended to help and support daily tasks, and for some teachers, it has helped build curriculum and lesson plans.
“AI is a great tool to utilize; it can be targeted to different students based on the class, so if I have a class that’s more discussion-based and enjoys discussion and conversation, then I can change my assignments or tailor them accordingly,” Business Law teacher Kirian Holcomb said.
Even with the benefits, senior Abigail Garnett said it feels as if it puts some students at an unfair advantage over those who don’t.
Even with the benefits, senior Abigail Garnett said AI is not fair to be graded he same as students who refrain from the software.
“It hasn’t given me a fair advantage over other students who do use AI,” Garnett said.
When students cheat and use AI on assignments, it puts those who have completed assignments on their own as a disadvantage and it removes the life skills learned in classes.
“It is really important to develop critical thinking skills,” senior Eleanor Manz said. “School isn’t just about the information, but learning how to acquire the information.”
Though students often think others, most teachers can tell when students use AI in their assignments.
“I see a lot more students who are reliant on AI to jump to AI more frequently, instead of being more patient with themselves to get the answers,” On-level English IV teacher and Dual Credit literature professor, Kelly Brennan said. “When it comes to writing, I can usually see how formative ChatGPT is, like with Em Dashes. There is a correct way to use it and a way AI uses it.”
Even with the ban of ChatGPT, the use of artificial intelligence by students hasn’t stopped.
“I actually had a student who used Copilot earlier. And I caught them,” Holcomb said.
Both teachers and students believe AI has its positive attributes to the learning, but in the near future, Brennan said it is more important for students to learn to think for themselves.
“Humans are better thinkers than a computer,” Brennan said. “If we lose the want to learn, which I hope we are nowhere close to, there is a possibility that artificial intelligence might take over.”
