I attended my two high schoolers’ back-to-school night and joined seven classes.
One teacher was emphatic: “AI is banned in my class. Using ChatGPT is cheating.” Another voiced anxiety, “if students use AI for writing, they’ll never learn to write on their own.”
The teachers’ concerns are real. A 2025 MIT Media Lab study concluded that “using AI may erode students’ critical thinking skills.”(link)
At the same time, the world outside school is brimming with AI. “AI won’t replace humans — but humans with AI will replace humans without AI”, said Karim Lakhani.
Shall high-schoolers use AI?
My answer: use AI to augment, not to automate.
- Automation is when AI completes a task for the student
- Augmentation is when AI helps a student improve their own ability to complete the task
For example, Use AI to study AP Physics
Do Not: Copy your homework problems into ChatGPT and ask it to finish them.
Do: Use AI as your Teacher.
Feed your AP Physics textbook into ChatGPT. Copy an example problem from the textbook and ask with a simple prompt:
“You are an AP Physics teacher. Explain the problem step by step: 1. clarify the key concepts and reasoning before showing any math; 2. demonstrate the full solution with clear logic and equations; 3. highlight common mistakes; 4. summarize the main idea.”
After you’ve followed and understood the explanation, ask again:
“Give me a new problem on the same concept to test my understanding.”
Until AI, rich kids pay $100/hour for a physics tutor. Most cannot afford this.
A.I. could level the playing field.
Another example, Use AI to to Learn Scientific Research
Do Not: Use AI to automatically generate research questions.
There are several AI tools in the market that “help” students create research questions.
Within 5 minutes, simply by asking students a couple of questions, the AI tools will generate a research question with no effort from the students.
You will feel miserable because you are executing AI’s ideas: not observing, not reading, and not building your own idea. No creative outlet.
For high school students, the point of doing research is not to become the domain expert or get publication; but to build scientific inquiry and critical thinking skills.
Do: Observe, Read and Building Your Own Idea that You Truly Care About. Use AI as Your Mentor.
Here are my three suggestions:
1. Observe: See the World Like a Scientist
What sets a scientist apart from everyone else?
Faced with the same experience, most people accept it as is, but a scientist pauses to ask, “why?”
From A Student’s Mindset to A Researcher’s Mindset
- A student absorbs existing knowledge.
- A researcher discovers new knowledge.
Do: The student must begin with their own, personally meaningful observation. Afterwards, AI can act as a brainstorming partner, helping expand an initial observation and discover new connections.
2. Read: Model the Best
A personal observation alone is not enough. To contribute, students must understand the Frontier of Human Knowledge. Read top-tier academic journals that define
- Do: When reading a scientific paper, use AI to explain complex concepts
- Do NOT: Use AI to write the literature review by stitching AI-generated summaries
3. Care for the “Who”: From “Self-centered” to “Others-focused”
The deep motivation for any researcher, from a high school student to a Nobel laureate, is knowing that their research can help someone else.
Talk to people whose lives could improve thanks to your research, and interview them with questions like: “What aspect should I focus on to make this research more valuable to you?” “What’s missing from my current design?”
Caring for others is the ultimate source of purpose in science.
- Do: Use AI to practice mock interviews. Conduct the actual interviews with real people. Brainstorm additional stakeholders whose lives may be impacted by your research.
- Do NOT: Use AI to come up with a purpose. The connection to others must come from your own empathy.
PS. I am designing a masterclass to teach high schoolers scientific research. See more details at https://zhaojinhua.com/sim