Earlier this year in January 2026, one of the professional learning options for D-E faculty was to attend a panel of students talking about their experiences and thoughts about AI and education. The feedback from that small group session was very positive, so under the leadership of Diana Gross, Chief Innovation Officer, and the cross-divisional Academic Technology Liaisons, there was a follow-up panel discussion for all faculty to close out the school year. The student panel featured Jared Mosseri ’27, Graham Schwartz ’28, and Megan Rhee ’29, all of whom provided invaluable (and honest) insights on how they use and think about AI.
Head of School Dr. James Calleroz White kicked off the discussion in a warm and engaging way by encouraging faculty to think creatively around what AI can do, and “appreciate the power of these tools,” particularly given the school’s mission to engage in life-long learning. (Among other anticipated professional development opportunities for the upcoming 2026-2027 year, plans are for all D-E faculty to be Level I certified in Gemini and Google Classroom.)
In this mid-June session, moderated by Mr. Bill Campbell P’21, Associate Director of Technology for Academics, the students answered prepared questions, and the session concluded with an audience Q&A.
Below are the questions posed to the student panel and highlights from their responses.
What is the difference between using AI out of curiosity and using AI because you feel stuck, rushed, overwhelmed, or disconnected from an assignment?
Megan: “AI can’t replace the process of certain study habits or processes that are important for students to take time to do, such as physically writing notes to organize concepts. [I believe] skipping these processes could have a negative long-term effect on students’ learning.”
Jared: “[When using AI out of curiosity,] you are intentionally deepening your thinking. When rushed, however, I believe that AI potentially replaces thinking, and that’s not always good. As an example, if there is a [habit] of coming up with questions for studying for an assessment, or even just a family discussion around a certain topic or current event, AI-generated questions just don’t have the same amount of energy or thought put into them, so it is never useful to fully rely on AI.”
What kinds of assignments make it most tempting for students to let AI do most or all of the work, and what kinds of assignments make students feel that their own voice, opinion, or experience genuinely matters?
Graham: “Long packets that tend to have the same questions asked multiple times just in different ways may result in being ‘offloaded’ at some point to AI tools. However, any assignments that are more hands-on and encourage students to rely on different skills [at the same time] are really less likely to be handled by AI. They are also much more interesting in the long run.”
Jared: “If an assignment allows a student to be themselves, and express their own voice, then there is no reason to rely or draw upon AI. As an example, a Physics scrapbook project that draws entirely from a student’s own personal experience would never be relegated to AI. That project is all about representing the student’s opinions and observations of physics in their life.”
How does seeing peers use AI affect class morale and student-teacher trust? Do AI detectors make students more honest, more anxious, or both?
Megan: “Students can get concerned that they are not on the same level with their classmates, especially if it is uncertain if they themselves or AI [instead] was how they arrived on a solution or an idea in a class.”
Jared: “Classroom dynamics can shift to a ‘prove that you’re a real learner’ and that shift is not always constructive for the students or the teacher, which can undermine trust.”
Graham: “There is an added layer to this concern that sometimes it can seem that an assignment was AI generated! Additionally, AI detectors can also sometimes be wrong, especially if you have learned yourself how to use certain grammatical tools like transition words, semicolons, or em-dashes, all of which can be an [incorrect] red flag to AI use.”
Jared: “Yes, students can get worried that their own work can be mistaken as being done by AI. But I do feel that students are better set-up for long-term learning success if they always stick to sharing their own voice. That student voice is what teachers and also fellow classmates want to hear, in any dynamic learning setting; it removes that anxiety and [fosters] trust.”
How do you think technology and AI are affecting your real-life social connections and interactions in community spaces?
Megan: “There are definitely both positive and negative aspects to using technology and AI in life. For example, I can FaceTime with my relatives in another country, and parasocial relationships can be very fun and constructive. But it is so important to take advantage of real life connections too. Making a ‘phone pile’ during a friend’s gathering, for example, is something that is popular and helpful. We also need to always be conscious of the negative aspects of relying too much on technology to create and maintain relationships.”
Graham: “AI is great in that it allows access to specific answers for specific tasks, but if you need more comprehensive and thoughtful answers to questions… and if your preconceived notions are wrong to begin with… then it is far from helpful.”
Jared: “AI can set you on the wrong path of understanding very easily, if you ask a question that is flawed to begin with. Thinking and learning about the best questions at the start is the most important step in any process of using AI, and being ready to synthesize the answers that you get back, critically and thoughtfully, is key.”
Q&A Highlights
What do you think student learning will look like in the future?
Graham: “AI will of course continue to be developed and used for studying, and in really cool ways. As an example, AI already can turn class notes into podcasts for students who learn better that way. Perhaps teachers can think about a future class in great ‘prompt-making’ because sometimes AI can just result in a glorified guessing game. It also should not replace the thought process that students start themselves.”
Megan: “Students can use AI as a helpful ‘debating’ tool, which can be both fun [and interactive], and this is just going to get better over time. Ideally it will help with critical-thinking, processing skills.”
Jared: “I believe that no students can fully engage in a classroom setting if their screens are open. AI can also ‘infiltrate’ and integrate into our lives without us being even cognizant of it doing so! So learning how to ask the right questions of AI and then carefully processing the answers that you get back remains important.”
What about career opportunities in the future, given AI?
Jared: “I think it will be just a situation of having very different types of job opportunities. I plan to go with the flow, remain [nimble] and open to these opportunities.”
Graham: “For every student, formerly ‘safe’ jobs will likely change. There is a level of fear-mongering that can happen with regard to some jobs no longer being available. But behind all the AI, I think people will still want employees who are experts in their field and can be relied on for specific skillsets.”
What is your advice to students to choose a “thinking, pragmatic use of AI” route over an “overly AI-leaning, no thinking” route?
Jared: “Let’s admit that time saved by using AI is a hard thing to battle, but school and learning, is at the end of the day all about ‘compounding’ what you understand, all the time. You are best off as a person when you can relate what you learned in one class to other classes—and situations, and challenges—making moments of connections and understanding between various disciplines. That’s the key and that’s what gets students excited about learning, about coming to school each morning, and what will result in them [choosing] their own thought process over simply going with AI-generated answers.”