Alena Dasha Peethala has used artificial intelligence for all kinds of school assignments.

The recent International School of Beaverton graduate said she would use generative AI in particular, which produces content based on imported data and patterns it picks up on.

Programs like ChatGPT and Google Gemini helped her craft unique study questions based on her notes and gave initial feedback on her papers before she received a final grade from her teacher.

“I think there’s a lot of that attitude that AI is this large force that is just coming too quickly,” Peethala said. But if we step back and look at it, she went on, it’s like a lot of other rapidly developing technologies we’ve learned to live with, including scientific calculators, the internet and smartphones.

Peethala, 18, wants educators to move away from the mindset that AI is “developing too fast, and we’re helpless.” Instead, she wants them to figure out how to teach students how to use it responsibly.

And that’s key.

Because, for all the pros there are with this advanced technology, for both students and teachers, there are several cons, too. And where there are gray areas that take extra nuance to navigate, young people will need guidance.

Pro: AI can cut down the time spent on administrative tasks and improve learning

Peethala isn’t your average teen talking about AI. She’s starting at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, this fall with plans to major in computer science and minor in national security.

As a high schooler, Peethala spent years working with the Oregon chapter of the organization EnCode, which, as it describes itself, is a group that fights “for a future where artificial intelligence can fulfill its transformative potential.”

Peethala said their work was dedicated to promoting security, innovation, fairness and transparency, as well as promoting student voice in AI development.

She said a lot of students see AI as something they can use for personalized learning.

For an EnCode project, a group interviewed multiple students to understand why they gravitate toward using AI in their schoolwork in the first place.

“A lot of them responded with sort of this idea that AI doesn’t judge them,” Peethala said. “They have this feeling that for their assignments, when they have maybe questions … they might feel embarrassed to ask in front of the whole class, or even embarrassed to ask their teachers, they feel like AI can give them that answer and help them work through problems and give them more attention that maybe their teachers or fellow classmates may not be able to give them.”

Teachers also see ways that AI makes it easier to get their work done. They say the technology can help them get through the easy but time-consuming administrative tasks, so they can better focus on their students. And they can use AI to more effectively tailor their lessons to their students.

Compared to the rest of the country, Oregon schools are ahead of the curve in some ways. The Oregon Department of Education was the first to release statewide guidelines for AI in schools, back in 2023. Now, 26 states in the U.S. and Puerto Rico have such guidance.

Oregon’s guidelines provide information on the pros and cons of AI in education, and why this is becoming such a large conversation now. They provide resources to help local school leaders craft AI policies and offer suggestions on training opportunities for staff and students on how to use the technology ethically.

But they’re just guidelines — not rules. And AI policies look different between districts, which can leave a lot of variability for how well this “pro” plays out.

For educators like Alexa Duda, who teaches computer science and technology at Tualatin High School, AI has made her work more efficient. She sees that as helping her students in the long run.

“AI has returned some humanity to the classroom because it gives teachers the opportunity to get some of those things off of their to-do list and really be able to spend that time with their students,” Duda said.

Con: ‘Cognitive offloading’ is concerning for students’ development and academic integrity

As the director of Well-Rounded, Integrated and Digital Learning for the Oregon Department of Education, Adrienne Pierce is responsible for making sure Oregon students get a thorough and responsible education when it comes to emerging technologies.

Part of that is addressing the fact that AI can be abused and provide developmentally inappropriate shortcuts around actual learning.

Pierce brought up the terms “cognitive offloading” and “cognitive atrophy,” which come from an overreliance on tools like generative AI and can weaken students’ critical thinking, memory and problem-solving.

“Often, what ends up happening with AI, as adults, we use it as a tool, but we still think through the process of iterating, right?” Pierce said. She gave an example: I prompted it, here’s the first draft, how do I go from that draft to my final piece of work?

“That can be a challenge for students,” she said, “to really dig into the struggle of learning that needs to happen to expand neurological pathways.”

In other words, as young brains are developing and learning how to learn, they have to build up that critical thinking network and muscle memory.

Tualatin High teacher Duda said she works with her students to understand that AI is a tool they should use sometimes. She also makes a point to show her students that AI programs can learn biases and discriminate as well.

“It shouldn’t be used all the time,” she said. “It shouldn’t be doing all of your work for you or all of your thinking for you.”

Pro: It’s a game-changer for kids with extra learning needs

When asking education officials around the state about AI, the Tigard-Tualatin School District was frequently mentioned as a district leading the charge.

The district’s policy, in place for this past school year, includes a supplemental guide that makes it easier for educators, parents and students alike to know when AI can and cannot be used on assignments by using “stoplight” colors.

If the curriculum is marked as green, students can use AI without citation. If it’s yellow, they can use AI, but they must cite it. And red is for a specific task or assessment, when no AI is allowed.

But Kasey Fernandez, a district library media specialist, told OPB a big benefit of AI in the classrooms is that it serves some of the district’s most vulnerable students.

She recalled a special education teacher, Bruce Alter, testifying on behalf of his students as the community pushed, starting back in 2022, for clearer and more proactive AI policies.

“He has been able to use it with students who [use wheelchairs] and cannot speak on their own to help them complete assignments in a manner in which they haven’t been able to submit them before,” Fernandez gave as an example. “And they have a guide that shows how you can adjust the text with the student’s input to make sure that it’s actually saying what the student is intending.

“It’s a fascinating process to watch,” she said, “and it gives me hope about some of the good things that it can be used for.”

Augmented speech devices and other technologies are sometimes the only ways students with disabilities can access the education they’re legally entitled to. Newer and advancing AI programs may be the next step or solution to improve that for these kids.

Pierce with ODE said that, when used properly, AI can expand learning opportunities not only for students with disabilities, but also for kids at different reading levels, students whose first language isn’t English or others with specific learning needs.

“A great analogy … is a ramp that you would use when walking up onto a sidewalk,” she said. “Able-bodied humans might use that ramp, but it also provides access for any individual who has a disability.

“So, the same is true if you’re thinking about how you might use AI — think about what is best for the student and how to meet them where they’re at.”

Con: AI’s environmental footprint

As AI development and use surge, so too does a massive increase in power demand for data centers. This, reports show, leads to soaring greenhouse gas emissions for tech companies.

For climate-minded Oregonians, this may be reason enough to avoid using AI as much as possible, even though some apps, search engines and customer service programs may already be using it without your knowledge.

Young people are thinking about this.

Peethala remembered trying to cram in last-minute study questions with some friends during her senior year.

“Sometimes, when you search things up on Google with, like, a science-heavy topic, you just get all these long research papers and articles that you don’t really have time to read when you have five minutes before an exam,” she said. “And so, I and another friend had suggested, ‘Why don’t we just ask ChatGPT?’ ”

But another student spoke up, asking if they realized how much energy is being used for that simple search — and, by extension, posing the question, “Is it worth it?”

This gave Peethala pause.

“I think especially in school, there’s just more of a focus on how the impact of AI in terms of like academic integrity or in terms of cheating,” she said, “but not so much on any of those other impacts, especially on the environment.”

Pro or Con: AI programs can help save money and bridge the digital divide among communities

During COVID-19 school closures, the “digital divide” became a crucial issue.

“‘Chromebooks’ became a keyword because it was like, ‘Oh, we have students who might not have technology at home or who might not have access to internet, especially in more isolated rural parts of the state,’ ” Pierce recalled.

AI is bringing up that same conversation.

“If we’re not preparing students for it, then we’re setting them behind,” Duda said. “There are some kids that are going to have access no matter what, and other kids who won’t.

“Schools have to make up that gap for them.”

Some groups are working to bridge that divide. But Pierce has heard concerns from both ends of the spectrum — either schools with more resources are going to get access to better AI tools, or, the flip side of that, that schools with less money are going to become more reliant on AI in place of staff.

An AI tutoring program may be less expensive than the salary and benefits of a human educator. However, even the biggest proponents of AI in education argue you can’t take real people out of the equation.

“It has to be a human-centered space where ... it is a tool for us,” Pierce said, “not that it is replacing the best practice of educators.”

Con: Bullying, harassment, unhealthy attachments — AI can create social problems

Many adults fear that young people are developing unhealthy relationships with AI characters and therapists, which has been pointed to as a cause of death in many teen suicides in recent months.

Students have reported their peers using AI to bully and sexually harass them, including making deep fake nude photographs, with surveys showing 40-50% of students are aware of deepfakes being circulated at school.

Peethala said some people might laugh off when an AI photo of a celebrity pops up on their social feed. But when it’s an explicit photo of yourself or a classmate, that reality hits differently and can harm students’ mental health. This can have lasting, devastating impacts on the targeted students, many of whom are young girls.

Peethala said it’s important to speak with students to see what they actually know when it comes to these harmful programs and practices. What are they aware of, and what are they not aware of?

She said, “One of the dangers is just not being prepared and not educating students enough on it.”

Future: Students want to be a part of the conversation

AI isn’t going anywhere. And some argue that teachers have an obligation to show students how to use the latest technology responsibly as they enter the “real world.”

“I’ve always envisioned a future where AI continues to rapidly develop and grow,” Peethala said. “I don’t perceive it as being something that will go away.”

With that in mind, Peethala and other students are pushing for their voices and opinions to be at the forefront of the decision-making process for how this technology will be used in schools.

That’s why Peethala worked with Beaverton administrators and advocated across the state throughout her time with EnCode to improve district policies — from technology access, discrimination, academic integrity, bullying and sexual harassment — to include AI factors.

“I think if I wanted adults and leaders and educators in this space to know something, I would just say there’s a lot of students that actually do really want to be a part of this work,” she said.

“Often what I see is that we are the minority in spaces that are really going to affect our futures the most.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/14/oregon-schools-ai-pros-cons/