Throughout the history of education, students have sought to make their educational fate easier. And it didn’t matter what subject they had to study: Latin, astronomy, or alchemy. Every student was looking for ways to cope with the load using the tools available. Their only limitations were (and are) their wallets and their imagination.
Technological advancements, digitization, and AI are supposed to make learning less complicated despite tightening requirements and the constant increase in the required knowledge. No wonder students of all levels are seeking any help more and more. Cheat sheets, ghost writer services, and other services helping them perform various forms of academic writing are considered “gray” methods by some teachers. But why do some of them justify these tools?
Rooted in Egypt and Mesopotamia: Cheat Sheets
Since the first schools appeared, there have probably also been the first, most ancient ways of “cheating.” Scientists believe that one of the tools used to help students was the help of enslaved people. They would whisper the correct answers to their masters during exams. The first ancestors of classic old-school cheat sheets likely appeared at the same time. They were written on available materials, such as tablets, papyrus, or birch bark. There is a version that the most desperate students got tattoos with texts that could be useful to them on the exam.
Since then, cheat sheets have probably become a staple tool for exams. Although not so extreme. Why do some teachers consider having cheat sheets a legitimate and even a good sign? Here are two main reasons:
- Preparing cheat sheets is a kind of preparation for the exam. Since the volume does not allow copying books, only key knowledge or mathematical formulas are included in the cheat sheets. To do this, you must study a lot of literature and concentrate on tiny handwritten notes.
- Knowing how to use them is critically important because the cheat sheet itself does not replace knowledge, how and where to apply it, and it does not eliminate the need to see between the facts.
This tool also has disadvantages. First, putting together a cheat sheet is an extensive job. Second, there is a risk of getting caught by a teacher who is categorically against it. Third, you must get them out and use them without getting caught.
The Writing Help: Artificial Part
The idea that an app can do all the boring work for you, i.e., write something in a few minutes that takes you hours, is brilliant. But not always what glitters is gold. AI has its drawbacks, and there are quite a few of them. But the main thing is that AI is not human intelligence. Look at this to learn something more.
- Datasets and algorithms limit AI learning. On the other hand, humans learn throughout their lives using various methods, including experience, education, and communication. By the way, who creates the AI algorithms?
- AI can generate creative content, such as essays and term papers. But it is still limited by templates and algorithms. On the other hand, humans have original thinking and creativity and are not limited by templates.
- AI does not have emotions, intuition, or moral values. Humans, on the other hand, do.
- AI is developing rapidly, but it is limited by algorithms. Humans learn more slowly, but they have unlimited potential.
However, there are some advantages to using AI in education. They can help with ideas, searching, initial Googling, or grammar checks. In such cases, the use of AI is justified and even necessary. But we would not trust them to write severe student or scientific papers. This article explains more.
Interestingly, even with the latest updates, AI continues to think in patterns. Yes, the first responses to your queries or drafts will look good. However, the more you dive into the subject, the more formulaic the answers become. Roughly speaking, this does not deepen the thought but presents the obvious in other words. The human approach effortlessly wins in this battle.
Writing Help with Unlimited Intelligence
The most controversial point, to be honest, is that any professor or supervisor will say that it is illegal to use the services to help write papers. They will give a lot of arguments against it. And in their own way, they will be right. However, no one takes into account that a student is not a machine.
A student has a job, family, responsibilities, and a limit on physical capabilities. When the knowledge is there, but there is physically not enough time to do all the written work, what to do? And the last question: if ghostwriting is such a controversial issue, then why is Peter Blake’s name often accompanied by such names as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett?
