In 2023 and 2024, I was a high-achieving student who was writing powerful essays, solving difficult problems, and learning deeply. Now in 2026, I struggle to write, problem-solve, and connect with my classes. While this might be influenced by getting older or a growing apathy toward the education system, I believe the direct cause is my increased use of Artificial Intelligence.
As much as we hate to admit it, I can confidently say that the average student has likely used AI at least once to quickly write the annoying discussion post or solve that math problem that’s taking a little too long to figure out. While many students might be writing whole essays or completing entire assignments with AI, I believe the average student is not. They are using AI the way it is recommended to be used: making outlines, explaining a problem, or even summarizing complicated texts.
This is how I was using AI, and while I thought that was fine, it was actually hurting my critical thinking skills.Â
The first red flag for me was my inability to properly communicate my thoughts through writing. While drafting articles for Her Campus, my words were jumbled, inconsistent, and missing a clear purpose. I now look at my writing and mourn the delicacy and imagination that I once had with my words.
This concern, mixed with several other warning signs, has caused me to make a decision: cut out as much AI as possible from my life and based on the benefits I have already seen, I urge you to do the same! Unfortunately, AI has been so integrated into our daily lives that it can be complicated to try and remove it, so I invite you to implement some of the things I have been doing.
The first step is the easiest: avoid using ChatGPT or any other AI program. AI companies have made accessing AI all too easy, as it’s free and available online. I know when I was confused about a Calculus 2 problem, it was way too simple for me to take a screenshot of the problem, enter it into ChatGPT, and ask it to solve it. The more I did this, the less time I spent trying to figure out the problem myself and the more I relied on AI to do my work. This is why the first thing I did was avoid ChatGPT as often as possible. This was a good first step, but it didn’t feel like enough.
The second thing I did was change my browser. Google’s AI, Gemini, has been implemented into its search engine with no way to turn it off. If you are dedicated to Google, there are extensions you can download to hide the AI results, but unfortunately Google still processes the inquiry. If you are like me and also want to avoid AI for environmental reasons, this will not suffice. This is why I chose to switch my browser.
If you want to take that extra step, I switched to a browser called Ecosia, which is an environmentally friendly browser that works off renewable energy and plants trees from the ad revenue. While it still has AI results, it allows you to turn them off in your browser’s settings. This step has been influential in my detox from AI.
While I am still trying to wean off my AI use, these two steps have made such an impact already. I have felt more connected with my work and feel as though I understand my classes better. I feel proud of my writing even if it is not as good as it once was. With AI becoming increasingly prevalent in student work, I urge you to avoid using AI for your academics so you too can feel confident in your work and critical thinking skills.