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Senior high school students Amanda Cabusas and Justine Laurence Castro frequently use artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, which rapidly grew in popularity worldwide in the past two years. Since its launch in late 2022, ChatGPT — a free chatbot that offers instant responses to human prompts — has turned into both a friend and a foe for students like Cabusas and Castro, and others in the academe.
Cabusas is a Grade 11 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) student from Southwestern University (SWU) PHINMA, a private school in Cebu City. She said she initially struggled with using ChatGPT, but eventually taught herself how to use it by reading articles explaining what it’s for.
“I use it to get ideas on topics I want to know more about, specifically for papers, to clarify which concept to focus on and narrow it further,” she said. “Despite not knowing much initially, you get a grip on the concept…by applying prompts to generate ideas.”
Cabusas emphasized that she sticks to using AI only for ideas, and not to copy generated text — well-aware that the results may be inaccurate and typically take information from various sources without proper attribution.
Castro, a Grade 12 STEM student from Cebu City National Science High School (CCNSHS), is also aware that AI can get things wrong. He does use it to get ideas and to understand lessons better, while taking the results with a grain of salt.
“Whenever there’s a confusing topic, I use AI tools like ChatGPT to help simplify the text and summarize the concepts that I can’t grasp easily,” Castro said.
“You get to see results generated by AI that are very promising, but we have to revise them because it’s a matter of upholding integrity and self-control,” he added.
But not all students take a cautious approach to AI, and not all would have their own personal rules to follow. What happens then?
Quality of learning affected
Elmer Boybanting, a senior high school teacher from SWU PHINMA, agrees that AI tools can be useful in education, if used responsibly. But one major problem is when students pass off AI-generated work as their own — putting integrity into question, impacting the level of learning, and leading to overdependence on technology that reduces critical thinking.
For instance, Boybanting has seen a rise in the use of AI among students in his writing class, English for Academic and Professional Purposes. “I started to notice that their output is not really original,” he said.
Another teacher, Rex Ebarle from CCNSHS, welcomes AI as a way for students to get a better grasp of lessons even outside class hours. But like Boybanting, he became concerned with students’ submissions for writing activities, noticing that “there were really good outputs that are sometimes too good to be true.” In cases like those, Ebarle said he would ask students about their papers during class to check whether they really understood the subject matter.
While there are online AI detectors, the teachers pointed out that many of them are unreliable. This means it becomes the teachers’ responsibility to judge what is AI-generated and what isn’t — a subjective process that is challenging in itself.
Given that burden, both private and public school teachers themselves admit to needing guidance about how to navigate the use of AI in classrooms. What should and should not be done? What are the penalties that must be in place? As Boybanting noted: “There are no tangible rules as to what to do. There’s no framework to follow in how to teach with the use of AI.”
Lack of training, guidelines
Jules Agbao, who also teaches at SWU PHINMA and is part of the team responsible for writing the student manual of the school’s senior high school department, said they plan to update the manual to include AI usage.
“Human control should still be the backbone of the AI tools in the education sector. These are called tools to assist, not replace,” added Agbao.
For public schools in particular, Ebarle pointed out the need for formal training from the Department of Education (DepEd), so all teachers would know the pros — and cons — of AI.
“Topics during seminars and workshops are often limited to strategies in teaching different kinds of subjects, but I think they have to start focusing on AI and similar technology,” Ebarle said.
“Collaboration with the right agencies, professionals, and people in the academe who are already very much familiar with these AI tools is essential,” he added.
DepEd Central Visayas Regional Director Salustiano Jimenez said that private schools are likely to be ahead in AI use, given their resources. But he pledged to start organizing seminars and workshops in 2025 to help public school teachers become proficient in using AI, which he acknowledged is “part of our life now.”
Ahead of such seminars, Jimenez also plans to conduct surveys among teachers to gauge their early experiences. “Before I conduct orientations, I need to first study what these tools are on my own and how they work,” the education official added.
According to Jimenez, there have been initial calls for AI usage to be prohibited, but he believes AI tools can be seen as mechanisms for learning and boosting efficiency in schools.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara himself has acknowledged that AI tools would have benefits for both teachers and students, but instituting a policy is necessary to ensure responsible usage. In a panel discussion at Rappler’s Social Good Summit in October 2024, Angara said, “We’re in the middle of a very revolutionary time in technology, and that gives me hope.”
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. A student in Cebu City uses ChatGPT. Photo by Cris Fernan Bayaga/RapplerAI as a ‘partner’
Looking at AI as a “partner” in education rather than restricting its use entirely is the recommendation of Jerel John Velarde, chapter lead of AI Pilipinas Cebu and founder of Datos Pilipinas. AI Pilipinas Cebu describes itself as “a volunteer-led organization that aims to foster a vibrant AI community…by providing a platform for learning, collaboration, and innovation,” while Datos Pilipinas is a data startup.
“Antagonizing ChatGPT or technologies of similar nature will severely limit us from empowering our students to be competitive in the workforce,” Velarde said.
He urged teachers to think of AI tools as part of a “spectrum of doing and helping,” instead of taking a black-and-white approach to these technologies.
“Teachers need to learn it. It’s very important that teachers understand it, are familiar with it, so that they can design activities [where] AI usage is expected,” said Velarde. “[AI is] not omnipotent and omniscient. It’s a limited tool, but it can help us push forward objectives in a more effective manner.”
For instance, Velarde said, AI tools can address the imbalance in teacher-to-student ratios in classrooms, enabling efficient learning. “Before, you couldn’t cater to every student asking a question after a lecture. But now, that is changing with AI,” he said.
Velarde added that AI-powered tools can simplify tasks such as lesson planning and creating personalized tests. “Before, it’s time-consuming to be a one-on-one personalized educator. Now, with AI, every student can have their own learning plans, own tests, and own notes.”
But Velarde also emphasized that accountability in the use of AI is crucial, with humans still ultimately in control. “A huge caveat is they need to be responsible for whatever comes out of it,” he said. “You can never, ever, ever point towards, ‘Because that’s what ChatGPT said.’”
Human rights framework
On a wider scale, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education Farida Shaheed has called on countries to adopt AI tools and systems “only if they are integrated within the broader framework of the right to education.”
“When developed responsibly and within a human rights framework, AI can promote social good, peace, and development. However, unregulated AI adoption in education poses risks to democratic values and individual freedoms, while unequal access to AI tools within and between countries worsens educational disparities,” Shaheed said in her report in October 2024.
Shaheed’s recommendations for countries include establishing “robust ethical and legal frameworks” for the use of AI in education, recognizing that AI should not replace the “essential role” of teachers, and setting up “specific oversight mechanisms…including human rights and child rights impact assessments,” among others.
The UN special rapporteur also advised schools to “encourage faculty to work with students on thoughtful AI use,” “invest in professional development to help educators explore AI impacts,” and “redesign” teaching approaches “to enhance critical thinking, creativity, and ethical reasoning.”
Ultimately, AI integration should not come at the expense of quality education, or lead to students — especially in countries like the Philippines — falling further behind compared to their peers worldwide.
Stefania Giannini, assistant director-general for education of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization or UNESCO, told Spanish newspaper El Diario Vasco in early January: “From an education perspective, what’s important is that technology should be at the service of learners, not the other way around.” – Rappler.com
Cris Fernan Bayaga is a campus journalist from the University of the Philippines Cebu’s Lanog, the official student publication of the College of Communication, Art, and Design. He is also an Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler.
