In recent years, with the popularity of artificial intelligence tools, more and more middle school students have begun to use AI to assist in completing homework. Just take a photo of the question, and AI can quickly generate the answer without inputting instructions or thinking. This type of "AI homework assistant" has quickly become popular on major social platforms and learning apps, attracting widespread attention from teachers and parents. A survey data shows that about 46% of students use AI tools to complete homework to varying degrees, especially Chinese, English and liberal arts subjective questions have become AI "high-incidence areas". So, how to judge whether children are using AI to do homework? How to guide children to use AI reasonably instead of relying on it to "take shortcuts"?
What problems may students bring when they frequently use AI?
Knowledge cannot be internalized, and learning effects are greatly reduced
AI can generate content, but it cannot replace thinking. If students just copy and paste AI answers, they can't really understand the knowledge at all, let alone use it flexibly.
Limited thinking ability and language expression ability
The expression structure of artificial intelligence is often fixed and templated. Long-term dependence will weaken students' ability to think independently and express opinions, and will also affect their vocabulary accumulation and writing style.
In the long run, it affects the competitiveness of further studies and employment
"After entering college or entering society, students will eventually have to solve problems on their own. If they rely on AI from middle school, it will only cause a greater gap in the future. Students will lack the ability to solve and analyze problems independently, and even face the embarrassing situation of "having a diploma but no ability".
The issue of integrity cannot be ignored
Using AI to do homework without the teacher's permission is essentially cheating. Once you get used to using AI to "cheat", you may also take improper means in more important exams or work in the future.
How can parents judge whether their children use AI?
Parents can judge whether their children use AI homework assistants from the following points:
Is the homework level suddenly "leaping"?
If the child's Chinese grades were average, but he suddenly wrote an essay with advanced vocabulary and rigorous logic, it is worth noting. You can ask the child the meaning of certain words and sentences, or ask him to repeat the main idea of the essay.
Is the answer "excessive"?
AI often tends to "say a few more words". For a problem that can be explained clearly in one or two sentences, AI may put on a complete beginning and end, quote various irrelevant concepts, or even write content beyond the outline.
Is the homework completed unusually fast?
If the child completes a large amount of written homework in a short period of time, it may be that AI is used. Parents can ask their children to complete their homework on the writing platform and observe their writing timeline.
How should parents guide their children to use AI correctly?
In the context of the increasing popularity of AI tools, it is not realistic to completely ban them. What is more important is to "guide their use".
Teach children to "learn to learn" with AI
Instead of banning them, it is better to teach children how to use AI to fill in the gaps. For example:
- Let AI generate a summary of knowledge points or a mind map
- Ask AI to simulate exam questions for self-test
- Use AI to help make English word cards or recite materials
Guide children to "digest and absorb" AI content
You can ask children to repeat the content generated by AI in their own language, or retell it in the way of "telling it to children" to strengthen understanding and expression.
Encourage children to actively share what they have learned in school
Chatting about the learning content in school every day during meals is a good way to understand whether children really master knowledge. Don't just ask "Have you finished your homework?", but ask "What did you learn today, what is fun/difficult?"
Focus on the process rather than the result
Exams and homework are just means, not ends. Cultivating learning ability and thinking habits is far more important than temporary scores.
Recommendations for learning tools that reasonably replace AI homework assistants.