ChatGPT is the New Google—So Why Aren't Schools Adapting?
When ChatGPT was first introduced to the public in 2022, it revolutionized the world and ushered in the Age of AI. No longer were people looking things up on Google or going to library to find information of how to do things like fix a leaky faucet or replace the oil in their car, they asked ChatGPT. Quickly after seeing the massive success of ChatGPT, Microsoft and Google, the creators of the top two search engines, Google Chrome (~90-94%) and Bing (~3.9%) came out with their own generative AI chatbots, with Google releasing Bard (later Gemini) in March 2023 and Microsoft releasing Copilot (originally called Bing AI) in February 2023. In 2025, Google added Gemini into Chrome and created an AI mode, which completely revolutionized how searching the web worked. Companies, both big and small, quickly realized the importance of AI usage, and thus, as a general rule of thumb, AI usage became a requirement to fully unlock a company's true potential.
However, schools still create major stigma when it comes to using ChatGPT or any AI to find sources for essays and research, which makes the job harder than it should be. On average, companies will let employees use AI tools like ChatGPT for general research, brainstorming, or drafting, but with strict guidelines, such as what is allowed to be entered into the chatbot (data privacy protection). Meanwhile, in K-12 education, many schools prohibit AI use completely, and only 6% of teachers say AI does more good than harm compared to the 25% who say it does more harm than good. A very small number of schools are beginning to allow AI tools for general research and brainstorming, but with strict supervision, including verification requirements, a “Human-AI-Human” policy, making sure private information is not shared, and ethical usage is a major priority. This is a good idea and is worth investing in and developing. However, it is still only a small number, and some teachers are unsure how to use it. Personally, as a high schooler, I think that AI should be allowed for finding sources, similar to how people would search for sources just three years ago, and with the short blurb that many AI add, it can be helpful, and cut down the time it takes to find sources and compile and form a cohesive and well-structured essay and/or argument. Now, I want to make one thing clear: students should only be using AI to gather sources, not write the essay.
For me issue became prevalent when I was writing my Granting Change Proposal Essay for AP Lang in spring of my junior (which is a previous blog post, link is here). With my teacher's permission, I decided to use Microsoft Copilot to gather sources, particularly since the post is all about why the St. Vrain Valley School District needs a centralized baseline AI policy for teachers to use for their own. I didn’t use Copilot to write the essay or even create an outline, and with teacher approval, I was able to gather more sources quicker than if I was unable to use Copilot. After using Copilot for research, I felt frustrated and overwhelmed whenever I was looking for sources using Bing (my preferred web browser), especially with all the sponsorships and close-but-no-cigar articles, or even articles that had nothing to do with my search query but had matching keywords. Using AI like ChatGPT or Copilot to find sources allows for more relevant sources and a couple sentences about the article, which can often allow you to determine whether the source is applicable or not.
However, schools still create major stigma when it comes to using ChatGPT or any AI to find sources for essays and research, which makes the job harder than it should be. On average, companies will let employees use AI tools like ChatGPT for general research, brainstorming, or drafting, but with strict guidelines, such as what is allowed to be entered into the chatbot (data privacy protection). Meanwhile, in K-12 education, many schools prohibit AI use completely, and only 6% of teachers say AI does more good than harm compared to the 25% who say it does more harm than good. A very small number of schools are beginning to allow AI tools for general research and brainstorming, but with strict supervision, including verification requirements, a “Human-AI-Human” policy, making sure private information is not shared, and ethical usage is a major priority. This is a good idea and is worth investing in and developing. However, it is still only a small number, and some teachers are unsure how to use it. Personally, as a high schooler, I think that AI should be allowed for finding sources, similar to how people would search for sources just three years ago, and with the short blurb that many AI add, it can be helpful, and cut down the time it takes to find sources and compile and form a cohesive and well-structured essay and/or argument. Now, I want to make one thing clear: students should only be using AI to gather sources, not write the essay.
For me issue became prevalent when I was writing my Granting Change Proposal Essay for AP Lang in spring of my junior (which is a previous blog post, link is here). With my teacher's permission, I decided to use Microsoft Copilot to gather sources, particularly since the post is all about why the St. Vrain Valley School District needs a centralized baseline AI policy for teachers to use for their own. I didn’t use Copilot to write the essay or even create an outline, and with teacher approval, I was able to gather more sources quicker than if I was unable to use Copilot. After using Copilot for research, I felt frustrated and overwhelmed whenever I was looking for sources using Bing (my preferred web browser), especially with all the sponsorships and close-but-no-cigar articles, or even articles that had nothing to do with my search query but had matching keywords. Using AI like ChatGPT or Copilot to find sources allows for more relevant sources and a couple sentences about the article, which can often allow you to determine whether the source is applicable or not.
A screenshot of the author's Copilot search for sources for his AP Lang Essay
All in all, schools need to let student off the hook a little and let them go and use the AI for source gathering and research, just like companies are letting employees use AI to draft emails, or how we used to Google something we didn’t understand. I’ll leave with an analogy/warning: school not allowing high school students to use allowed to use AI at all for schoolwork will end up like a super strict parent who wonders why their teenage/high school student keeps sneaking out at night and eventually, doing everything they were prohibited from doing.
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