Cheating is not winning

While many students worldwide do not have access to education, and while many Americans lack access to a college degree, many college students who do have access to higher education choose to use generative artificial intelligence (AI)  to cheat on assignments instead of completing them themselves.  

According to a Forbes article entitled “More Than Half of College Students Believe Using ChatGPT To Complete Assignments Is Cheating,” which was published on March 20, 2023, more than 20% of college students have admitted to cheating on an assignment using generative AI.  

While frequently using generative artificial intelligence may seem like an easy path to some students, using artificial intelligence  to write essays or complete other assignments not only is highly unethical but devalues college degrees and leaves cheaters unprepared for exams and future employment. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2023/03/20/more-than-half-of-college-students-believe-using-chatgpt-to-complete-assignments-is-cheating/ 

When an employer hires a college graduate, they should be able to safely assume that the graduate has the ability to read, write and think critically. They should be able to assume that a college graduate has the knowledge required to pass a basic English course, to write an essay, to have an understanding of the world around them that is obtained through the study of science and history, and to utilize the critical thinking skills that are obtained via the study of math.  

However, when a student graduates from college and has used artificial intelligence in order to cheat their way through school rather than gaining these skills through the work of completing assignments and writing essays, both the employer and the recent graduate are stuck in a bad position: one in which the employer assumes that they have these skills, which can then be applied in a workplace environment, and one in which the recent graduate is underprepared for the job that they were hired to do despite investing a substantial amount of time and money into their education.  

If college students continue to cheat using generative AI at the rate they are currently, an ever-growing portion of the workforce will be unable to complete the tasks that they were hired to do. 

In addition to the issue of generative AI creating an underprepared workforce, there is also the issue of cheating creating a lack of pride in one’s work, and cheating destroying the notion of craftsmanship.  

When a student has a difficult assignment, especially if it is a longer and more rigorous assignment that is intended to showcase a student’s achievement, such as a senior thesis, the process of seeing a difficult task through from start to finish leads to a sense of pride and accomplishment.  

In addition to obtaining a greater knowledge of the subject material, a student who has spent a significant amount of time refining and crafting an essay or assignment develops a sense of pride in their work as a whole.  

Those who are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be educated should take it, not throw it away using AI for the sake of temporary ease.