While artificial intelligence has roiled the economy and the labor market in the headlines, a different type of AI handwringing is unfolding in schools, according to NPR.

AI tools make it easy for those lacking in artistic skill to produce art. Anyone can use them to generate a credible, authoritative essay on any given topic with a few well-crafted prompts.

Between how large language models are trained and how they're often used, AI has been characterized as a "plagiarism machine." It's a sentiment that's particularly prevalent in creative industries and, as NPR reported, in classrooms around the country.

Ailsa Ostovitz is a 17-year-old high school junior in Maryland. She's been accused of using AI for writing assignments three times this year. In September, a teacher messaged her after an automated checker flagged her work as potentially AI-assisted.

Ostovitz was chagrined and told NPR that she'd written about a personal passion, music, in her own words.

"It's mentally exhausting because it's like, I know this is my work. I know that this is my brain putting words and concepts onto paper for other people to comprehend," Ostovitz admitted.

NPR examined the ongoing adoption of AI-detection tools in classrooms even though their assessments are often unreliable and biased. 

Cleveland-based English teacher Carrie Cofer had concerns about the use of AI detectors on students' work. She ran an experiment using her own dissertation and the tool GPTZero.

"And it came up with like 89% or 91% AI-written, and I'm like, 'Oh, no, I don't think that's right, because it was all mine," Cofer recalled to NPR.

Education is far from the only arena where the rapid advance of AI has proven controversial. Many societal AI-related concerns have erupted in this past year alone. As data centers supporting AI usage began to appear, electric bills skyrocketed due to increased energy demand. 

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In recent months, data centers have become a point of contention because they require vast amounts of water to operate and deplete public resources. 

Residents living near data centers have complained of increased noise and air pollution. Major AI firms have resisted calls to disclose their ecological impact. On the other hand, AI tools have shown promise for environmental applications like improving crop yields.

As middle and high schools cracked down on AI use, Purdue University announced a new graduation requirement for AI proficiency. Students are likely receiving mixed messages about the technology's role in education.

In Ostovitz's case, she's started using AI tools — which she estimated add about half an hour to each assignment — to ensure her own writing doesn't resemble LLM-generated text.

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