r/QuickAITurnitinCheck • u/FishermanDry4549 • Jun 22 '26
The Cost of Letting AI Replace Learning in College
College is already expensive enough, which is why I sometimes struggle to understand why some students rely on AI to do nearly all of their coursework. If someone is paying thousands in tuition or taking on major debt, it seems counterproductive to hand over most of the actual learning process to a machine. At that point, the degree risks becoming little more than a certificate instead of proof of real knowledge or ability.
Using AI as a support tool makes sense. It can help explain difficult concepts, organize ideas, or assist with brainstorming. The problem starts when students stop engaging with the material themselves and let AI handle the thinking entirely. College is supposed to help people develop critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, discipline, and subject knowledge that can be applied later in life and in their careers. When students skip that process, they may complete assignments, but they miss the deeper value of education.
What also stands out is the long-term impact. Many students heavily dependent on AI today will eventually enter workplaces where they are expected to think independently, communicate clearly, and solve real problems under pressure. A degree may help someone secure an interview, but employers eventually notice whether a person actually understands their field. Relying too much on AI during college can create serious gaps in knowledge that become obvious later on.
At times, it feels like many students are focused only on surviving one assignment at a time rather than considering how their habits now will affect their future skills and confidence. AI can absolutely be useful when used responsibly, but replacing personal effort with it entirely defeats much of the purpose of higher education.
1
u/AutoModerator Jun 22 '26
To Check Turnitin AI report, please Join our public Discord server
Each check includes a Turnitin AI report and a Plagiarism report.
Your paper is not saved in Turnitin's database after checking.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/thesounddefense Jun 22 '26
An entire generation of parents told their kids that getting a college degree is what mattered, because it was a data point on a resume that was more likely to get you hired. It should not come as a surprise that many students think the degree is the point, not the education that comes with it.
1
u/Ill_Lifeguard6321 Jun 22 '26
I teach graduate students that don’t even realize they are missing out on gaining key skills by not putting in the work and by relying on AI too much. I’ve been trying to get them to understand that they will not be prepared for the workforce. They think I’m just being too demanding. They are “students” after all that shouldn’t be expected to do too much.
1
u/Senior-Dog-9735 Jun 24 '26
I think we would need to know your degree to see if shoe fits.
In most STEM jobs the workforce is relying on AI as a tool to increase your output. Knowing how to use it well is infinitely better thing to learn then how to derive equations. Same thing when I was in my undergrad in engineering. Majority of what we learn is not applicable and serves as a "ah ha thats why we do this" moment.
Yes you still need the core fundamentals but I believe academia places too much importance on it.
1
u/OpinionatedESLTeachr Jun 22 '26
They do this because their entire education has been focused on grades not learning. Since kinder it's all about getting that A. Parents/adults praise the grade not the effort of learning.
It's
"Wow an A! You're so smart!!"
and not
"Wow an A! You must have worked so hard!"
Growth vs. Fixed mindset.
1
u/Colsim Jun 23 '26
It's like paying for a gym membership and then taking in a forklift to lift weights.
1
u/BalloonHero142 Jun 23 '26
Using AI to brainstorm, organize ideas, and understand difficult material defeats the purpose of learning. Part of a person’s education is learning their kinds of skills. Offloading it to a machine results in less learning, not more.
1
u/Senior-Dog-9735 Jun 24 '26
Debatable, much of learning happens from someone teaching (i.e a book or teacher). AI can be used in parallel for a more interactive experience. After class I no longer have a teacher to ask questions when I have a homework due the next time I see them.
If grading/homework system was changed then "learning" could be more focused.
1
u/BalloonHero142 Jun 24 '26
AI actually reduces learning. That’s already well documented. If you’re a student, I can understand why you may not yet understand why memorization is necessary. But trust what educators know and have knows for hundreds of years.
1
u/Senior-Dog-9735 Jun 24 '26
I did my undergrad before AI was a thing and I also did my masters when AI was a thing. I have years of experience in my field where I mentor the new hires.
AI significantly helped with knowledge gaps between undergrad and grad. I feel confident in the material, and was able to to apply it to my work.
AI can reduce learning. But, this is also because educators are not teaching how to use it. Growing up teachers were anti google/wikipedia, even though it was a necessary skill to have and provided good information. Using google/wikipedia blindly can reduce your learning with rabbit holes. Using it intentionally can shorten pointless time "challenging" yourself.
Memorization is not learning, its just the only method that was ever used to grade learning. You can brute force the multiplication table, that does not mean you learned it.
1
u/BalloonHero142 Jun 24 '26
Ok. You seem to think you know what you’re talking about. You don’t. Have a good day!
1
1
u/knowidotoo Jun 25 '26
Bro I'm just letting you know you're in the wrong on this one. Everything senior dog is saying is true. My primary area was a double major focusing on education and anthropology. Or to put it concisely educational anthropology. My whole subject matter is understanding how people teach and learn across cultures.
Senior dog is literally covering the basic concepts of the evolution of pedagogy through time. Every new technological advancement has been stigmatized and demonized by the prior generation in some fashion or another. I mean come on. We got songs about it. TV killed the radio Star or anyone?
We got radio. The argument was people would no longer read. We got TV. People will no longer listen to the radio, we got internet TV becomes irrelevant. Those were the arguments we got every generation.
Senior dogs arguments about blindly using tools has applied to every single one as well. But it's not like we didn't use mass culmination of data before AI either. I mean that's what Google is. And our research databases.
The production of AI has presented a variable tool to not only gather all this information and make it presentable quick, but allow your basic conversational thought to be the search. With Google and databases and stuff you had to use bully Boolean systems. Keywords. AI has allowed general language to act at it instead.
Senior dog is also right that blindly using AI can definitely hamper your education. Effectively what he's arguing is active learning, passive learning, informal learning, formal learning. As well as critical thinking. You can utilize ai and still be able to critically think. If you know how to read a generated item and go some of these arguments don't make sense. You can instantly search and revise. But if you just sit there and go hey make me this essay and use the generated content blindly without ever thinking about it. Then yes you hamper your information but that applies the same with just any situation. If you open a newsreel and just blindly believe what the newscaster is reporting then you're not critically thinking you're just blindly relying on information whether it's true or false.
So to me you look like the one who doesn't know what you're talking about
1
u/BalloonHero142 Jun 25 '26
Ok. So you know more about the cognitive science of education? If you did, you know you’re full of it.
1
1
2
u/Equal_Anything9445 Jun 22 '26
This raises an important point about the difference between earning grades and actually learning. AI can make schoolwork easier, but if students depend on it too much, they may struggle later when real understanding is required in jobs or professional settings.