The AI Academic

Artificial intelligence used to sound like science fiction—but now it’s part of everyday school life. From ChatGPT and essay generators to AI study tools and even AI teachers, students are using technology in ways we’ve never seen before. But here’s the real question: is AI making learning better—or is it making us more stressed, dependent, and disconnected?

In today’s video, we’re diving deep into the impact of AI on students and school life—not just academically, but mentally and emotionally. Because while AI promises efficiency and productivity, we’re also seeing a rise in anxiety, burnout, academic pressure, and a quiet fear of not being "good enough" without AI.

So—is AI actually helping students grow, or are we unintentionally creating a generation that feels overwhelmed, watched by algorithms, and afraid to make mistakes?

This isn’t just a tech conversation—it’s a human one. Let’s get into it.

That was AI-generated. I asked ChatGPT to create an introduction for a YouTube video discussing the impact of AI on student efficacy, and this is what it spat out. Good right? In this day and age, human-made content is more important than ever, especially when, in less than a minute, some bot can spit out an intriguing, decently structured introduction. As a tutor, I find more and more of my students using AI like Quillbot, Grammarly, and ChatGPT to write their assignments. But how good is this AI content actually? What sets humans apart from our content-generating counterparts? And most importantly, what does this mean for the future of education?

The AI Academic

So, that introduction ChatGPT "created" is okay. It's just fine. As a tutor, I'd probably tell a student it's a C. That's because ChatGPT did not create this. AI bots charged with generating content are not humans. They are not 'free-thinkers'; they cannot create, at least, not in the way we can. What they can do, however, is scan the internet for other people's content related to a prompt and rewrite it to meet the criteria of a user. This introduction is so mid because it's a jumbled concoction of other people's YouTube videos, blog posts, or even scientific reports. These bots have the whole internet at their fingertips, but so do you. I saw a really great reel the other day that did a fantastic job demonstrating the difference between a 'thing-maker ' and 'thing-stealer' in reference to the way AI cannot create, only collate pre-existing concepts. When I tried to find the original post to cite the creator, everything that came up just offered me AI sites dedicated to creating reels for me. So, is AI content actually good? No. It's not. It's a poor collaboration devoid of understanding, producing dry, parroted content. That's because of one simple mechanic: AI is not a human. It is a tool. AI has many benefits, especially when it comes to research, but AI lacks critical thinking, creativity, and most of all, real-life experience. AI can scan the web all it wants, but it will never be able to capture or create what it really means to be human. To have a thought and explore it, to feel an emotion and overcome it, or to work hard on something and see it to fruition. AI can provide us with the nails, but we're the ones who have to hammer down that research into actual concepts, reports, and above all, information.

Human, or Homunculus?

What is a homunculus? As my boyfriend would put it, he's a little guy. Homunculus is a concept that varies across the world, from ancient beliefs that it was a fully formed, microscopic human, to modern psychology, where it corresponds to sensory responses. But one thing we can all agree on is that there's something not quite human about them. A homunculus is a concept that represents something; people. AI can replicate humanity all it likes, but it can never be like us. If you look at content online, read through reports, or even use AI yourself, there is a clear distinction between AI-generated and the genuinely constructed thoughts of a person. I'm a university student who studies online. I can't afford to move across the country to attend the school I want, but I am so grateful for the support of my parents, and that I even have the ability to attend university at all! What I am not grateful for is the introduction of Professor Chatbot. I'm about to start my 3rd year of psychology at uni, and this past semester, there has been a ridiculous increase in the amount of 'lectures' that are clearly AI-generated. From constantly repeated information to concepts that just don't make sense or even straight up contradict something my lecturer said last week, this introduction has not only made me lose a lot of respect for the institution I pay so much to attend, but also reveals a lot about the consciousness of the homunculus. Having a 'little guy', an Igor, a robotic servant to do your bidding, produce OK work, and leave you with plenty of free time is a huge temptation that, sadly, people struggle to resist. But the homunculus is not a human. It is a representation of one. A collection of traits we're able to recognise as humanoid, but it, itself, is not human. It can be wrong. It cannot think of original ideas. It cannot conceptualise deeper meaning within our lives, society, or even the universe. It doesn't look up at the sky and ask itself, 'what's out there?'. So, what gives it the right to become my teacher? To replace speculation with stolen, unconfirmed information? To replace your ability to think with quick, easy answers? Where do we distinguish between an educational tool and an AI academic?

The AI Pandemic

What kind of role does AI play in our education as students, as Australians, and as people of the world? It is my firm belief that education should be free, at all levels, for everybody. As a tutor, the number of students stressing over how much their education costs is ridiculous. And I don't just mean my undergraduate students, I mean I have kids, children, in year 8, freaking out that their parents are struggling to send them to school, and they're worried about the kind of life they have in store for them, when their ability to learn is impacted by how much money they can make. As I said before, AI is a tool. The kind of tool we can use to make education free and accessible to everyone! It's a cheap, easy way to collate information. And this is what it should be used for. We don't need more AI-generated essays, social media content, or lectures; what we need is a tool designed to organise pre-existing information into packages, and then make those learning materials available to everyone! There is a dramatic pandemic of reckless AI usage; it's an illness that will continue to spread across generations. Something that will impact our education as students, our lives as a society, and our minds as creative, inspiring individuals.

Conclusion

We are capable of so much more than a machine. We can be more than reposted, rewritten renders of replaceable information. We can do things that haven't ever been done before. We can make something out of nothing. This is what it means to be human. To ask why. To wonder. And to create. S&R, myself and Ryan, we are tutors, but we're also people. We don't just want to educate students, but spread awareness about the things that influence education, teenagers, and society as a whole. We have tons of free content on our website, because your ability to learn, to think, shouldn't be financially restricted. I know this video is a different from our usual blogs or posts, but I felt like it was important to talk about the impact AI has on us now before 2025 comes to a close. We all need to consider the impact of a world without imagination, creation, and dedication to a brand new cause. We need to consider where we draw the line between the student, the teacher, and the AI academic.