AI seems to be taking over everything.
Social media is flooded with AI-generated content, companies cite AI in their reasoning for mass layoffs, and countries are integrating AI into their militaries.
Unsurprisingly, but disappointingly, this AI takeover has hit Chadwick. While Chadwick’s AI Policy focuses on student use of AI, many students, including me, are equally as concerned with teacher use of AI, particularly because there don’t seem to be many (if any) AI-related rules or restrictions for faculty.
This school year, I’ve felt like almost every teacher uses and supports student use of AI, especially compared to just two years ago, when AI use among both teachers and students felt more discouraged.
I can’t seem to get through a single school day without hearing a teacher push students to use AI to study, reading through an obviously AI-generated assignment sheet, or seeing an AI-generated image on a slideshow.
But, to me, the worst use of teacher AI isn’t when it’s used in lessons—it’s when AI is used in more personal settings.
Early this year, my teacher sent a heartfelt email to the class, congratulating us on a great discussion. But, to my utter disappointment, the teacher’s kind words were entirely AI-generated.
Discovering this use of AI led me to question the humanity behind every piece of feedback that teachers gave me. At the end of the fall semester, I turned my attention to teacher comments in Fall Progress Reports.
A few weeks ago, Mainsheet Features Editor Kayla Grohman ’26 and I surveyed 17 Upper School students and had them run their Fall Progress Report comments through GPTZero.
Disappointingly, a little over half (50.98%) of teacher comments were reported to have at least an 80% chance of being fully AI-generated. This issue was widespread: every student had at least one AI-generated comment, with one student receiving five.
Though AI checkers aren’t always fully accurate, the results suggest that at least some teacher comments were AI-generated. Some teachers even admitted to students that they used AI to help write—-or completely write—their comments.
Regardless of what the true percentage is, anything above 0% is too high. Teacher comments are supposed to celebrate our successes and help us figure out what to work on. They’re supposed to be thoughtful, personal, and, most importantly, human. To use AI in student feedback is to miss the point entirely.
Whether or not teachers disclose their AI use, students notice it. And when students see their teachers use AI to generate feedback, create images, or write discussion questions, many students gradually become more comfortable with using AI in classes, regardless of whether it’s allowed. Even if some students refuse to use AI, many of them lose the motivation to work hard. After all, if their teacher uses AI as a shortcut, why shouldn’t students use a non-AI shortcut like looking up homework solutions online before even attempting the problems?
Perhaps more importantly, teachers’ use of AI can damage the relationships between teachers and students. Every time a teacher tells me that I can (and even should!) use AI on an assignment, every time a teacher’s slideshow is covered in AI-generated images, every time an assignment sheet is blatantly AI-generated—I lose respect both in that teacher and in Chadwick teachers in general.
And nothing could have been quite as soul-crushing as seeing teachers I like and respect not care enough about me to write a human comment.
Chadwick claims to promote a tight-knit community with hard-working teachers and students. But, by not regulating and sometimes even promoting teacher use of AI, Chadwick has failed at its mission.
Before every school year, the administration sends out a schoolwide email, announcing new policy changes. This summer, I want to see a new AI policy that places a proper emphasis on teacher use of AI.
I’m not asking for an all-out ban on teachers using AI (even though I generally do support that) because I recognize that a full ban would be unrealistic and unpopular. All I’m asking for are common-sense regulations and greater accountability.
AI has already caused so much upheaval and destruction in our world. We can’t let it destroy Chadwick too.
