According to a 2025 study in an article from the Guardian, 92% of university students reported that they use artificial intelligence to aid their studies. I wasn’t surprised to read this. I think that almost everyone I’m close to in and outside of university have used or do use ChatGPT. It’s actually quite difficult to remember a time where it wasn’t an option, even though it wasn’t available when I sat my A-Levels 5 years ago.
At the very least, Google AI summarises things in a way that is too easy for most of us to resist – and using it feels less intentional. It’s in all of our faces, even above Wikipedia. I do think that a lot of people feel at least slightly guilty about using AI – there are environmental concerns about its databases’ water usage, and then the moral question of what it means for us intellectually.
It’s quite apparent that going to university has evolved into something very different to what it used to be. It’s obviously not mandatory – and certainly not an option for everyone – but it is a lot less exclusive than before; it’s expected if you want to go into pretty much any profession. Not that a professional job is guaranteed, mind – especially since now having just an undergraduate degree is seen as the bare minimum in lots of fields.
It’s doesn’t come as much of a shock, then, that students turn to AI to lessen their workload. If you aren’t passionate about something, shortcutting seems like the rational thing to do. Obviously nobody feels 100% motivated all the time – we’re not robots (ha) – but it definitely doesn’t help that degrees are no longer seen as opportunities for exploring our interests and learning about things for the joy of it.
I used ChatGPT fairly regularly in first and second year. I never asked it to write my essays, but I found it helpful when I couldn’t bring myself to plough through 40 pages of Descartes. I also think it is a much better tool for language-learning than Google Translate, so I often asked it to explain various German grammar structures to me. This year I made the decision to give it up (I’m not trying to sound all high and mighty – I still read Google AI summaries nearly every day, and I’m well aware that most apps have AI built into them), in a conscious effort to feel less alienated from what I’m choosing to do with my life.
Honestly, I haven’t noticed an insane difference in my attitude. I think the damage has already been done – while I feel as though I am studying philosophy because it interests me and it’s an important thing to study, I wouldn’t say that I go above and beyond in my degree. I definitely take my education for granted more than I’d like to. And I do sometimes feel like I’m putting in unnecessary effort when I know that I could just ask AI to create some bullet points for me and call it a day – after all, if everyone else is doing it, am I shooting myself in the foot a bit for stubbornly struggling along trying to grasp a concept?
I suppose I’m mostly afraid of what AI will turn into if we accept it as a part of everyday life. I can recall countless dystopian films about robots taking over the world that we all watched growing up. Fantastical or not, I do feel like grabbing people by the shoulders and saying, “don’t you remember?”. It just seems a little bit nihilistic to give into it. Especially in major ways, like using it to plagiarise work – or to remove any creativity we exercise daily, like figuring out what to make for dinner.
It definitely speaks to wider societal issues, and blaming individuals is not only slightly misguided but also annoying (as I’ve tried my best not to sound here). But I do think that a lot
of AI use is completely unnecessary. Why on earth we’ve started creating AI music and art is beyond me – not only is it soulless, but it’s making an industry already difficult to earn a living in even more inaccessible and less human-focused. Arts and humanities are being affected in other aspects too, with a lack of funding and opportunities driving the masses away from them. If it takes a few people to sound a little bit preachy to get us to stop and think about what we’re doing, then, I’m fairly happy to get on that train.