Artificial Shortcuts, Real Consequences: The Costs of AI “Humanizers” to Learning
A wise mentor once shared with me that “experience can’t be taught.”
This observation carries significant weight in today’s educational climate, where students face an onslaught of sophisticated marketing campaigns touting platforms that boast of their ability to outsmart AI detection. These ads offer what seems like an easy way out of the challenging yet rewarding experience of learning to think and write.
Among these services, Phrasly.ai emerges as a particularly egregious example, the epitome of this issue. Just consider this transcript of a social media video advertisement for Phrasly.ai, starring what purports to be a high-school student.
I’ve been using this website called Phrasly to help me write my school essays, and I need to put you guys on it. In the past, there’s always been a little bit of a risk with turning in AI-generated content to my teachers because some of them have been able to detect that it was AI-generated. Phrasly’s useful because it can bypass any Turnitn AI detection. With Phrasly, I just copy and paste any AI-generated content in, and in just a few seconds, it will humanize it for me and make it so that no AI detector can detect anything. Thanks to Phrasly, I’ve gotten all of my essays done in almost no time using AI. Now I can put my laptop down and enjoy my Christmas break!
My blood boils at this audacious insinuation that teachers are antagonists for expecting their students to engage earnestly with their work. It promotes the destructive notion that taking shortcuts is not merely permissible but also clever, and that they should at all costs evade educators with the audacity to challenge their students to think, write, and learn.
This brazen promotion of a tool designed to enable student deception is an outrage. I detest how Phrasly and similar platforms peddle not just a product, but also a toxic mentality that devalues the importance of diligence, critical thinking, and personal achievement through mastering challenges.
The sense of powerlessness that educators experience in this David-versus-Goliath scenario is palpable. In our efforts to promote pedagogical integrity, we confront an industry eager to profit by actively encouraging students to cheat.
In response to Phrasly’s shameless advertising, I reached out to their online help desk, seeking to comprehend their justification for the product’s existence. I received a response from somebody named “Mark,” who offered this baloney: “Phrasly is dedicated to upholding academic integrity and actively contributes to blog writing for SEO [search engine optimization] purposes. Our company is committed to the democratization of AI, ensuring its accessibility without fear of external limitations. Moreover, with the rising incidence of false positives from AI detectors, our tool serves as an essential resource for those striving to maintain the authenticity of their human-written work.”
This claim that Phrasly protects students from false accusations is farcical. Phrasly prides itself on using “advanced algorithms to modify AI-generated content,” making it undetectable — the core of the issue here.
In an age when technology continually streamlines our daily tasks, we must ponder its far-reaching effects, particularly its impact on cognitive and emotional development.
In this regard, the philosophical musings of Philip K. Dick assume a poignant relevance. His probing questions, such as “Do androids dream of electric sheep?” and the more profound inquiry into the existence of souls within machines, underscore issues that extend beyond the realm of speculative fiction to the very heart of our educational endeavors.
We must clearly communicate to students the importance of not surrendering their essence to technology. Relying on gadgets for quick answers not only lessens the depth of their learning and the integrity of their character, but also risks offering up their spirit to the machine. This trade-off for convenience could consume the soul, a price far too great for the benefits it may seem to offer.
As we navigate the ever-evolving educational landscape, we must never divorce imparting knowledge from instilling values. Yet the advent of platforms that generate text designed to elude AI detection systems has already shifted my instructional focus. I spend more and more of my time addressing the ethical implications of using such tools rather than delivering content.
In response to this challenge, I have recently implemented strategies aimed at fostering integrity and honesty among students, despite the allure of AI’s seemingly convenient solutions.
For instance, I now introduce discussions that explore the long-term benefits of genuine learning over the expedience of achieving short-term academic gains. By presenting scenarios that demonstrate the value of original thought and the pitfalls of intellectual shortcuts, I encourage students to reflect on the importance of authenticity. In the face of the growing temptation for them to take shortcuts in academic work, I have embarked on a mission to instill a deep-seated sense of integrity and honesty in my students.
I engage my students in nuanced discussions that juxtapose the lasting rewards of true learning with the ephemeral spoils of academic subterfuge. Through these carefully curated scenarios, I aim to help my students recognize the intrinsic value of original thought and the inherent risks associated with intellectual shortcuts, thereby fostering a commitment to authenticity in their academic endeavors.
In my discussions with students, I consciously adopt a tone of understanding, acknowledging the pressures they face in an environment rife with shortcuts, such as those offered by platforms like Phrasly. I liken those temptations to low-hanging fruit — seeming within easy reach yet ultimately unfulfilling. My approach is proactive, focused on steering students towards integrity before they succumb to temptation, rather than chastising them post-transgression.
I advocate for transparency and honesty, reassuring students that while submitting genuine work is paramount, the courage to admit a lapse is also commendable. It is essential for them to recognize that acknowledging an error is a testament to their character and reflective capacity. I assure them that such honesty elicits respect and a supportive response, not punitive action. In taking the step to come forward, they not only preserve their integrity, but also embark on a path to rectifying their academic careers.
This is the greatest lesson we can offer: that the journey of learning, with all its inherent struggles and hard-won joys, is itself a profound source of wisdom — one that shapes not just how we think and write, but also how we live and grow as individuals. In embarking on this journey, we embrace the true essence of education.
