Late at night, when homework starts to pile up and teachers are not available, many students are no longer opening their notes first. Instead, they turn to AI tools for help. In difficult classes like AP Physics, AI is becoming a quick and easy way to understand hard topics. But this raises an important question: is AI really helping students learn, or just making school easier?

At TCS, many students are now using AI, especially in science classes that require a lot of thinking and problem solving. AP Physics student Mia Hodek explains how she uses AI when she gets confused. “When I get stuck on a hard topic on AP science I sometime use Al to explain the concepts or the terms like to brake it down step by step and sometimes l also ask it for like examples so like I can understand the questions in the exam and like prepare.” She also asks for examples so she can better understand questions on tests. This shows that AI can help make difficult ideas simpler.

AI is also helpful because it gives answers right away. When students are studying at home, they cannot always ask their teacher for help. Hodek explains, “Al helps me study for big test and for more interactive things because I can ask questions and then answers immediately like if I have to study at home and can’t just email the teacher because they won’t respond immediately.” This makes studying faster and keeps students from getting stuck for too long.

Even so, Hodek is careful about how she uses AI. She does not just copy answers. Instead, she tries to understand the steps. “When I ask AI for an answer, I ask them to explain the reasoning behind the answer so like it helps me understand the logic and the process and not just the final result.” This shows that AI can help students learn better if they use it the right way.

For other students, AI is even more important. Montserrat Sanin, an 11th grade students at TCS,  says she uses AI when she does not understand something in class. “When I don’t understand the lesson is asking the computer to explain it to me in a different way where it’s more visual and more precise so I can have a better understanding on the topic and I always asked for examples because it guides me to do the work.” This helps her understand topics that may not be clear the first time.

Sanin also likes how AI feels like constant help. “I usually don’t use it to do all my work, but to explain it to me and have like a Twitter always by my side. I really enjoy having artificial intelligence because it’s like having a teacher that can explain everything to me and respond all the questions that I have in mind.” This shows how AI can make students feel more supported, especially when they are learning on their own.

In addition, Sanin uses AI to study in an active way. She explains, “I use Artificial intelligence to study because usually I ask all the questions and put like the topics that I’m starting for the artificial intelligence to have all that information that I have to study and then I tell the artificial intelligence to do like an MCQ and I respond the questions, and then he checks it for me, and that’s that has helped me a lot this year with all the classes.” This allows her to practice and check her answers, which helps her improve over time.

However, not everyone thinks AI is always a good thing. Carolina Garcia, mother of Alicia , warns that students need to be careful when using it. “AI is very useful, but we need to be careful, since it’s important to know how to critically filter scientific evidence, as there are different levels at which information gains relevance. AI needs to be better trained in this.” This means students should not trust everything AI says without thinking about it.

Garcia also explains that real thinking is more than just getting answers. “Yes, of course—critical thinking also emerges from the combination of knowledge, experience, personal opinion, values, and the humanities. AI does not replace this.” This shows that learning involves more than just information, and AI cannot fully replace that.

She also points out that AI cannot replace human connection. “AI can be very useful for helping to structure ideas, generate insights, offer guidance, and provide certain types of information, but it will never replace the human aspect—the part that connects, reads emotions, and lives the human experience.” In jobs like medicine or dentistry, understanding people is very important, and AI cannot do that the same way humans can.

These different opinions show that AI has both good and bad sides. On one hand, students like Hodek and Sanin show that AI can make learning easier, faster, and more interactive. On the other hand, Garcia reminds us that too much use of AI could hurt important skills like thinking and solving problems on your own.

In the end, AI can be a very helpful tool if students use it correctly. It can explain ideas, give practice, and support learning. But students still need to think for themselves and truly understand what they are learning. AI may be changing education, but real learning still depends on the effort and thinking of each student.