In recent years, artificial intelligence has become a lightning rod in debates over the future of higher education. News coverage often paints a grim picture: students, supposedly abandoning critical thinking, are using tools like ChatGPT to cheat their way through degrees. Yet, as student and award-winning writer Elsie McDowell argues, this narrative overlooks the deeper forces pushing her generation towards AI.
“It’s not laziness driving students to AI,” McDowell writes. “My generation has been stranded in a rapidly changing and, since Covid, badly mishandled education system.”
The Lasting Impact of Pandemic-Era Disruption
The Covid-19 pandemic shattered the stability of schooling at a critical moment for McDowell and millions of other students. In March 2020, just as she was turning 15, schools across the UK closed their doors. What was initially thought to be a brief pause in learning spiralled into years of disruption.
Exams like GCSEs and A-levels were first cancelled in favour of teacher-assessed grades a system that, McDowell notes, “notoriously privileged those at already well-performing private schools.” When normal exams finally returned in 2023, they came with a harsh crackdown on grade inflation that left many students with far lower marks than expected.
At universities, too, the exam system transformed almost overnight. Open-book online assessments became common as institutions adapted to remote learning. Even five years on, according to McDowell, around 70% of universities still use some form of online exam.
Uncertainty and Inequality Fuel AI’s Appeal
This uneven and uncertain testing landscape created the perfect conditions for AI tools to take hold. McDowell describes a university experience where formats shifted mid-year, with little clarity on expectations. “In my first year of university, half of my exams were online. This year, they all returned to handwritten, closed-book assessments. In both cases, I did not get confirmation about the format of my exams until well into the academic year,” she recalls.
Against this backdrop, it’s hardly surprising that students would seek out tools to help level the playing field or simply keep up. While some commentators frame AI as a shortcut for the lazy, McDowell sees it differently. “AI is a time-saving tool; if students don’t have the time or resources to fully engage with their studies, it is because something has gone badly wrong with the university system itself,” she writes.
Financial Pressure Adds to the Push
Beyond educational upheaval, students are grappling with mounting financial pressures. McDowell points out that 68% of students now have part-time jobs, the highest rate in a decade. Meanwhile, student debt is ballooning, especially for those from the poorest backgrounds. McDowell notes that her cohort is the first required to repay loans over 40 years rather than 30, a change that will increase the long-term financial burden on graduates.
All of this leaves less time and energy for the deep, reflective study universities are meant to foster. In this environment, AI isn’t a magic bullet but it can help students stay afloat.
A Call for Clarity and Consistency
McDowell argues that if universities want to manage AI use effectively, they first need to provide stable, transparent assessment systems. “Universities need to pick an exam format and stick to it,” she writes. Where coursework or open-book exams are used, institutions must clearly define what constitutes “proportionate” AI usage.
Ultimately, McDowell believes AI is here to stay not because students are abandoning their intellectual responsibilities, but because the very meaning of student life is changing. The twin forces of technological change and educational instability have reshaped the way young people engage with learning.
“It’s not that we’re lazy,” she writes. “It’s that what it means to be a student is changing just as rapidly as technology.”
As the debate over AI in education continues, McDowell’s perspective offers a reminder that solutions must address not just technology but the deeper systemic challenges driving its adoption.
