Artificial Intelligence is a topic that has been heavily debated in recent times. The legal and environmental implications of AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and more are up in the air, yet, it seems that an unlikely demographic of people have begun using AI for better or for worse. If you’re a student, you may see exactly where this discussion is going. It is no secret that students have been finding ways to sneak AI into their school work. From using AI to find information or resources, or even for using it in extreme cases like writing essays, students have been using AI without really thinking about the implications it can hold in the future. What may seem like a tool to quickly get your work done is quickly turning into something much more than what people can see.
To start, when students specifically utilize AI, many don’t even think about where their data may be going when using these applications. As found by the National Education Association, the United States in particular does not have any laws that cover data privacy, but rather lets the states decide if they want to enact laws regarding the topic. As of April 2026, only California and Virginia have enacted comprehensive laws regarding privacy, and while there have been two major federal legislative proposals in recent years (the American Privacy Rights Act and the American Data Privacy Protection Act), in which both aim to address data privacy, these proposals are not projected to pass in the near future. This means that in the state of NJ, by simply signing up for or using AI programs students are willingly giving their data to these companies to help companies train and refine their artificial intelligence models. While students may not care about helping AI improve, Stanford University has found that AI companies are also using data to build personalized profiles for each user. This means that you will be targeted with ads, have your data sold or shared to third-party partners you are unaware of, and have important data such as your IP address, devices, and location be exposed to people you don’t know. Since AI is so new, there has been no urgency to pass a federal law or place regulations on how AI companies can exploit your data, so until an issue arises students who use AI will be exposed to having sensitive data of theirs be available.
The environmental implications of using AI resources, such as ChatGPT, are also detrimental. AI data centers have significant energy consumption due to the amount of people using AI in their day-to-day lives. Besides this, AI data centers also use large amounts of water to cool down centers when they “overheat”. Due to the water being dumped onto centers that are contaminated with minerals and chemicals, the water is too inefficient to re-circulate into the water cycle, meaning that the water used to cool down data centers is taking away from our water supply as humans. Besides this, these large data centers used to power AI also lead to large amounts of excess electrical waste. Researchers at Cornell University have found that by 2030 AI growth (and data centers) could add 24-44 million tons of CO2 to our atmosphere annually, and even consume up to 1,125 million cubic meters of water, both of which contribute to climate change and resource scarcity.
Up until this point, you’ve heard me talk about the larger implications of AI in society, but how does it affect students personally? Well, when students use AI to do their school or homework assignments, your critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills get derailed. As found by Harvard Independent, using AI to generate answers or complete assignments causes “cognitive atrophy”, which is the act of foundational learning being replaced by simple shortcuts in order to save time. This can be especially harmful as students enter the workforce later on in life, as they will be underprepared to solve real-world issues that are presented to them due to their excessive AI usages leading to a hunger in cognitive development. Besides this, while it is a meek point, using AI in the classroom is non-ethical and dishonest, which is why it is heavily advised against.
As of right now, as found by the White House, Artificial Intelligence is being governmentally encouraged for students to explore and use due to its abilities to transform the modern world. While the executive branch of the government may be promoting AI, its harmful implications in the long-run can not be ignored. In regards to students, I want to make it very clear that using AI may be tempting in the moment, but as you move throughout life there will be large-scaled consequences in regards to your work and life environments, which is why I urge you to stop using it on a daily basis for work that can be done on your own. Next time you are tempted to use AI for an assignment, maybe look back at your class notes or ask your classmates for help. Maybe you can have a study group with your friends, or you can email your teacher for help if you’re not quite sure what to do. AI shouldn’t replace human connection and communication, but the only thing that can ensure that this happens is us.