AI language models are created to assist users in forming unique, authentic content. The idea, essentially, is that this technology should help researchers, writers, and students communicate their ideas better. However, there’s been an alarming trend in using AI to plagiarize.

New programs can write entire essays from users entering a simple prompt. The entire previous paragraph, in fact, was generated with such a prompt by the AI writing software, Simplified.

Newly developed AI software is allowing students to write essays and generate images in a matter of seconds. Students are using the software across the country, which poses a challenge to traditional and online education.

“I think teachers really need to be aware of the AI,” English teacher Sarah Milosh said. “There are some cases where they can be used in a positive way, but I do not believe that is how most of the students will use them.”

According to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), plagiarism is anything containing “the words or ideas of another as one’s own in an application.” Using AI writing software to complete assignments falls under this category because by using an AI-generated text for their assignments, students are claiming what the AI wrote as their own ideas.

“Some of my friends have cheated using AI,” freshman Will Stroud said. “A lot of people are putting less effort in their work, and it’s lowering the efficiency of the whole school”

AI shouldn’t be utilized for cheating, but it could be used in a variety of ways to increase the efficiency of workers in certain occupations.

“If you’re having it help you, you can really learn a thing or two,” sophomore Jayden Rahim said. “It can help you program and write code for you, but if you’re just having the program write your essay for you it’s not helping you very much.”

Many online programs that students use for school purposes have new plagiarism checkers to detect when a student has used AI to write something for them.

“Now since Canvas detects AI, a lot of my friends are getting zeros,” Stroud said. “Since teachers have started catching on, their grades will keep getting worse.”