AI is destroying our brains. Whether for school assignments, party planning, vacation inspiration or lunch ideas, more and more people are letting AI do their thinking for them. 

In the US, over 89% of students have admittedly used Chat GPT to help with a homework assignment: 48% have used it for an at-home test or quiz, and 53% have used it to write an essay.* With high expectations to get perfect grades and do well in school, AI has easily become a tempting “tool” to help with anything from synonym ideas to fully written papers, all in a matter of seconds. 

School is a place to learn…right? On paper, maybe, but with pressure from parents, peers and college applications, students have become set on getting good grades more for the sake of the letters instead of a potentially amazing accumulation of knowledge and experience. As the world keeps moving faster with new technology, students feel rushed and turn to AI to speed up the homework process so they have time to finish everything assigned. 

I usually consider myself a responsible user of AI, but I find that when I feel pressed for time I sometimes try to convince myself that I’ll “learn this later “or “practice it later” as I use it—not to do my homework for me—but to help me be quicker and more efficient. In reality, I end up turning some of these things in without doing much thinking, and then I never think about them again and miss out on actually learning things.  

In AP Lang, Mrs. Van Orden keeps making important points about AI in comparison to personal learning. What I love most about her class is how much we “do things for fun,” to put it in her words–emphasis on “do!” With the pressure of grades taken away, it’s so much easier to lock in and just try. The temptation to use AI disappears, and personally, I’ve had so much fun on the assignments from that class because I end up creating things I’m surprised about and impressed with by thinking 100% for myself. I wish it were easier to approach all homework this way because it’s simply more fulfilling. 

More than half of American adults (61%) have used AI in the past six months, and nearly one in five rely on it every day.** What are you using AI for? Do you rely on it? 

For fun, I asked Timpview students about the dumbest things they’ve asked Chat GPT in order to demonstrate how frequently and mindlessly we’re prone to turn to it:

“I once asked it what 15/3 was.”

“Making scripture verses into apocalyptic movie posters.”

“I asked it what its favorite song was.”

“I remember one time asking it why I liked this one character in some movie, which now sounds so stupid because why would it know?” 

“I described people in band and asked it to predict who would get married.”

“Once I asked it what I should do if I forgot to put sugar in a cake, before it was in the oven.”

“One time I asked it to help me respond to this kid, and then it told me to talk about squirrels.”

“I asked it if it liked a YouTube video.”

 “I asked it to not be so cringe and chill out a bit. It started using more emojis and outdated slang.”

Yes, AI can be fun and practical for creativity and learning. But it seems to have become the place many of us turn for anything and everything, even to the extent that we treat it like a person and get annoyed about its “personality.” It reminds me of this skit that makes fun of how much we use AI, where the main characters have come to completely rely on it to live and function, using it for every interaction they have.*** Has this really become the era in which we live?

If I’m trying to do anything with this article, it’s to ask a question: are we being intentional with our use of AI? It’s an amazing tool that can help us improve our lives, but if we keep using it to rot our brains, it’s going to do the opposite. Before you open Chat GPT or ask it something, try to think first! I bet you could answer a lot of those questions on your own and come up with solutions with your own imagination. Watch out, you might just build a habit of thinking for yourself!

* https://study.com/resources/perceptions-of-chatgpt-in-schools

** https://menlovc.com/perspective/2025-the-state-of-consumer-ai/

*** https://youtube.com/shorts/2zb7S2beKOE?si=LrgcNhteNe3iK9eI