Dr Rakesh Verma
The words “school” and “learning” often evoke a flood of memories: chalk-dusted blackboards, bustling corridors echoing with laughter, hurried lunch breaks, and above all, the pressure of impending project deadlines. Fast forward to today, and we find ourselves in an era governed by Artificial Intelligence, not merely in boardrooms or coding labs, but in the heart of classrooms themselves. While much has been said about how AI has transformed the way we work in the corporate world, its subtler, and arguably more profound, impact has been on the very process of learning.
A recent survey conducted by the R&D Division of Synergetic Green warriors Foundation (SGWF) brings this shift into sharper focus. The study, conducted across Jammu’s higher education institutions, revealed that nearly half of all students use AI tools multiple times a week, with nearly one in four relying on them daily. What was once a methodical, reflective journey through knowledge has, for many, become an exercise in digital delegation-efficient, yes, but also hollow.
AI in Classrooms: Lifeline Students Don’t Fully Trust
For students growing up in the world of artificial intelligence, becoming conversant with emerging trends is essential. However, the integration of AI into education is not without its complexity.
This research delves into the burgeoning reliance on Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools among students in grades 8 to 12, examining the motivations, usage patterns, and levels of trust associated with AI-generated content. Through a mixed-methods approach, including surveys and qualitative interviews, this study analyzes a sample of 500 students to reveal the extent to which AI has become integral to their academic workflows. The findings indicate that while AI is extensively used for research, writing, and comprehension, students harbor significant reservations about its accuracy and reliability. This paper uncovers a “symbiotic paradox,” wherein students depend on AI out of necessity yet maintain a critical distance, highlighting the nuanced relationship between AI and human cognition in educational settings. The implications of this study extend to pedagogical strategies, ethical considerations, and the future role of AI in fostering genuine learning outcomes. It is essential to understand the depth and breadth of this change to ensure that education remains a journey of discovery and not just a task of digital delegation.
Learning Skipped
In numerous colleges and universities, physical footfall has reduced, and professors speak of essays that look extremely perfect, too polished, too impersonal. As reported by TNN, one faculty member noted how students once struggled to construct arguments; now, they hand in pieces that read like articles but fall apart under questioning. What is happening now is a subtle but significant change. AI is helping students complete academic tasks, but it may be erasing the academic process itself.
Many students don’t view it as a problem. They believe that AI is helping them to get things done more efficiently. But teachers are apprehensive that it is paving the way for a diluted ground of effort, originality, and critical struggle. Assignments are no longer considered a task to gather knowledge and grapple with intellectual curiosity. They have been translated into mere checkbox mechanized, outsourced, and increasingly devoid of space for personal engagement and critical thought. This shift poses a fundamental question: Are we preparing students for a future of innovation or merely training them to be efficient executors?
The essence of education lies in the struggle, the friction, and the intellectual wrestling that leads to genuine understanding. When AI steps in to smooth out these rough edges, it may inadvertently be robbing students of the very experiences that cultivate critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The challenge, then, is to find a balance-to leverage AI’s capabilities without sacrificing the core values of education.
A System Behind the Curve
While students are racing ahead, the institutions around them are grappling hard to inch closer. Few colleges have issued guidelines about AI use. Fewer still have updated their academic integrity policies to account for generative tools. Professors worry about awareness; some are vigilant, others unaware that the neatly typed essay they just marked may not have passed through the student’s mind at all.
The SGWF study doesn’t just highlight usage; it reveals a systemic gap in regulation, awareness, and response. Over 47% of students said they aren’t sure how to use AI tools effectively, while 45% cited a lack of awareness about available options. In many colleges, especially beyond Jammu’s central universities, the digital divide is wide. The result? Some students master the tools, while others don’t know where to start. AI fluency, it turns out, is quickly becoming a new marker of privilege.
This disparity underscores the urgent need for institutions to catch up. It’s not enough to simply acknowledge the presence of AI in the classroom; colleges and universities must actively develop strategies to ensure equitable access and effective utilization of these tools. This includes providing comprehensive training for both students and faculty, updating academic policies to address the ethical considerations of AI use, and bridging the digital divide to ensure that all students have the opportunity to benefit from these advancements.
The Quiet Erosion
Ask students what concerns them most about AI, and their answers aren’t about ethics; they’re about accuracy. Many describe moments when AI gave them incorrect facts, out-of-context data, or superficial explanations. Others describe how AI often misses nuance, especially in subjects like philosophy, history, or gender studies. The machine can simulate understanding, but it cannot think.
And yet, dependency grows. It’s convenient, it’s free, and it’s always available. But over time, convenience becomes habit, and habit begins to replace effort. That’s what worries seasoned educators. AI is not just changing how students work; it’s reshaping how they approach knowledge. It removes friction, and in education, friction matters.
Friction is where confusion becomes clarity, where the long road to understanding begins. AI offers shortcuts, but shortcuts come with trade-offs, and no algorithm can teach resilience. The challenge lies in preserving the essential elements of learning-the struggle, the critical thinking, and the personal engagement-while still embracing the potential benefits of AI. Education should be about developing the ability to think critically and independently, not just about finding the quickest route to an answer.
Where Policy Falls Silent
India’s National Education Policy 2020 is rich in vision and optimism, calling for digital integration, new-age skills, and flexible learning. But it says little about artificial intelligence. AI is everywhere in Jammu’s classrooms, but it’s nowhere in official planning.
Initiatives like YUVAi, SATHEE, or NEAT attempt to bring AI to learners, but there’s little clarity on usage ethics, institutional responsibility, or faculty preparedness. The gap between policy and practice is widening. As a result, students are self-navigating an AI landscape without guardrails. Some thrive, others drift, and many learn not through deliberate guidance but through trial, error, and whatever social media tells them is the latest tool.
The absence of clear policy guidelines creates a vacuum, leaving students to navigate the complexities of AI without proper support or direction. This not only exacerbates the risks associated with over-reliance on AI but also undermines the potential for AI to be used as a tool for genuine learning and growth. It is imperative that policymakers step up to address this gap, providing clear guidance on the ethical use of AI, defining institutional responsibilities, and ensuring that faculty are adequately prepared to integrate AI into their teaching practices.
Beyond Tools, Towards Thought
The SGWF warns that excessive dependence on AI may endanger critical thinking and creativity skills in students, two major pillars of meaningful education. That warning needs to be taken seriously. Technology in education is not new. But what Jammu is experiencing isn’t just technological adoption; it’s a quiet realignment of learning itself. Students are now curators of knowledge rather than constructors. They’re managing information, not wrestling with it. And that may be the cost we pay for unchecked digital acceleration: a generation fluent in tools but unpracticed in thought.
The shift from constructor to curator raises fundamental questions about the nature of learning and the role of education in the digital age. Are we adequately preparing students to think critically, solve problems, and create new knowledge, or are we simply training them to be efficient information managers? The challenge lies in ensuring that technology serves as a catalyst for deeper learning, rather than a substitute for it.
The Moment of Reckoning
Jammu’s students are not wrong to use AI. They are, in many ways, adapting to a system that values results over reflection, grades overgrowth. But when tools become teachers, and prompts replace problems, we must ask: what happens to the mind that no longer strains?
Education was never meant to be frictionless. And while AI can support learning, it must not become a substitute for it. Jammu’s classrooms are changing. The question is, will we change with them, or let the machine do the thinking for us? The integration of AI into education presents both opportunities and challenges. It is crucial to approach this integration thoughtfully and strategically, ensuring that AI enhances, rather than undermines, the core values of education. This requires a concerted effort from policymakers, educators, and students alike to navigate the complexities of AI and harness its potential to foster genuine learning and growth. Only then can we ensure that the classrooms of tomorrow are not just technologically advanced but also intellectually vibrant and enriching spaces.