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Posted on 02/11/2026 10:49:38 AM PST by nickcarraway
Students who use AI to solve STEM problem sets can evade detection, but they skip the mental work that builds understanding, says chemistry tutor Kelvin Ang.
During last year’s exam season, a student showed me her answer to the 2024 GCE A-Level Chemistry Paper 3 question. The task was straightforward: Draw three curly arrows to complete a reaction mechanism.
ChatGPT provided a diagram with clean lines, proper notation, and technical precision. But the arrows were completely wrong, misplaced in ways that would cost full marks.
Here’s another example from the same year. Students were asked why calcium fluoride does not dissolve in water, even though the thermodynamic conditions suggest that it should.
(Excerpt) Read more at channelnewsasia.com ...
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Thank you
It’s dangerous in general, for young people.
STEM requires deep understanding. Don’t use AI, especially if you are a science or math major who intends to use some form of STEM in your professional life!
I (MIT SB Biology; Harvard PhD molecular biology) should know!
Excellent article. Thanks for posting it.
Are prof’s going to allow engineering students to reference AI during exams now? Doubt it. Calculus trig substitutions, proofs, matrices etc...you either know em or you’re washing out. And that’s just calculus.
“The book “Better Grades Using AI” emphasizes that AI should augment your study efforts, not replace them. He emphasizes the ethical use of AI to help students.”
That is how my son, a junior in cybersecurity studies, uses it - either as a faster/more comprehensive way to get answers to things the lecture leaves him unclear about (vs. repeatedly querying the prof, although he also does that), or to explore areas beyond the scope of the lecture material about which his interest has been piqued.
He is adamant about understanding what he’s doing. In the event he’s unsure about the info AI provides, he will use other means of research to test its recommendations, so in that sense I think it enhances his skill sets. The way he uses AI actually increases the amount of time he spends on his studies but it also enhances his understanding.
AI is useful for junk mail; not much else.....yet.
AI could improve accuracy somewhat, but doesn’t. It is low on the list of AI priorities.
Yep, your son is doing it the right way. Students who cheat their way to a diploma are quickly uncovered when they have to start working in real life.
Even worse in the humanities.
We’re now producing illiterate or semi-literate college graduates.
Not if they are in a protected class and work for the government.
YW
YW
I use AI to generate quizzes on material I’m reading to make sure I understand it.
Well, your not getting the education you pay dearly for. Even if you are going to Univ. of Phoenix, the only one you are cheating is yourself.
Have you ever seen those videos on YouTube? College students that can’t answer grade school question. They can’t tell time properly. Get basic math wrong. They can’t name three counties. [They will often name Africa or Asia, or maybe a state.]
Like Chris Rock said, “Keepin’ it real........yeah, Real Dumb!”
I’ve taught them. Post-AI, they are also moral midgets, lying and lazy not only about their AI use—but of everything.
The tech bros put their kids in Montessori schools with zero AI, but our public schools are the opposite in the extreme.
I am not in school, or taking a class, but as an experiment, I asked ChatGPT to write a book, and have ten quotes, from ten sources. All of them were made up. I asked it to find sources linked to on the internet, and less than five out of 30 worked.
I've asked it questions about where neighborhoods in certain cities were, it just kept getting it wrong. I asked about Heisman Trophy winner, it got that wrong. It got really easy questions, available in lists online wrong. I am not saying it gets everything wrong, but the percentage is not good.
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