Midway through the semester, I stopped requiring students to disclose their AI use. My syllabi had asked for transparency, yet the expectation had become incoherent. The boundary between using AI and navigating the internet had blurred beyond recognition. Asking students to document every encounter with the technology would have turned writing into an accounting exercise. I shifted my approach. I told students they could use AI for research and outlining, while drafting had to remain their own. I taught them how to prompt responsibly and how to recognize when a tool began replacing their thinking.

I’m really disappointed that the teacher is approving of students using LLMs to research. I know that search engines suck these days, but you really can’t trust LLMs not to lie, and it doesn’t seem worth it to me to have to constantly defend your mind against believing what it is saying without going and verifying every little thing.

At least when a teacher or book tells you something, you have a context with which to weigh how much to believe it.