Use of AI for High School Students

If we look at history, the pattern is clear. When personal computers became widely available and commercialized, we all learned to use them to improve our work. Those who were stubborn and resisted adoption were largely disadvantaged. One may argue that there are still jobs that do not require computer skills, like woodworking and plumbing. But take a moment to think about this: How do they get customers? How do they find directions to a client’s home? How do they learn new skills? How do they order materials to replenish their inventory? The computer plays an integral role in their livelihood.

Then came the internet. We now rely on data for work and entertainment on a daily basis, if not hourly. There is practically no way to communicate and live without the internet today.

Now, enter artificial intelligence. To keep this brief, I often ask students to prepare for one interview question:

But why is it so important to start learning now? The use of AI is still in its infancy. Most people are either clueless about how to use it or only use AI for its chatbot function. The truth is that current AI models, as of 2026, are already powerful enough to remove major obstacles for people who have a strong desire to build.

A quick example is vibe coding. Before the age of AI, you had to learn how to code before you could make anything function on a computer. Now, if you have an idea or a solution to a problem, you can communicate with AI to build an actual computer program that solves it. This very website you are browsing right now was built with Claude Code. AI helped me build the structure and create the interface. My job was to make sure the content loaded properly and the experience was smooth for visitors. If I had wanted to build a website of this quality before AI, it would have cost me upward of $1,000 to hire a developer. Now, it takes just a fraction of my $20 monthly subscription. This is only one of several projects I am building with AI. (I also used Claude Code to make simple iPad games for my three-year-old son because I wanted to customize the games for him and I definitely did not want him visiting random sites with potentially inappropriate content.)

The use of AI is not just about acquiring a new skill. It is a solid piece of evidence that you are a thinker and a builder. By spending $20 on a monthly subscription, you open a lot of doors for your future career. You can build software or an application to solve a problem that you believe is important. You can showcase it. You can put it on your resume. You can even write a college essay about it. There are thousands of videos on YouTube available for you to learn how to use AI today.

The Student Side

There will always be students who choose to cheat whether AI exists or not. Yes, it is now easier than ever to finish homework with AI. There is, however, a blind spot that those cheaters have overlooked.

I dare say 99% of cheaters will never learn the material they cheated on. Consequently, they are empty. They are fragile. They are too focused on the short term and fail to see that they will struggle to secure a job in the future because they have nothing real to offer. They may celebrate how they beat the system by using AI. What they do not realize is that they are beating the system by sacrificing their very own future.

Here is the deeper problem: AI can indeed do the work for them, but at what quality? Without foundational and professional knowledge, they have no way to evaluate whether the work AI produced is actually correct. They have no way to create new solutions that have not been invented yet. Ultimately, they are at a loss.

The Teacher Side

When teachers are not teaching students how to use AI properly, they are putting students’ futures at a disadvantage. I have seen posts on social media about how teachers use a “genius” method to catch students who use AI to cheat. I believe these teachers are spending their valuable time and energy fighting the wrong battle.

Instead, we should educate students on how to produce work with integrity. Cheating is a moral problem and it demands a moral solution. The moral solution that I use is twofold: show students how easy it is to cheat using AI, and then show them how AI is incapable of producing top-quality work unless the user possesses an even higher level of knowledge. When educators keep pursuing the cat-and-mouse game, we witness a coevolution between educators and students that yields no educational or societal value.

The current landscape in every industry is about how to 5x or 10x your productivity. To achieve that kind of growth, we must adopt a new mindset and new values. There is no way to put in 80 hours of work in a day when there are only 24. The right approach to AI education is to help students understand that what was impossible is now very much within reach. In the past, a company needed to hire 10 people to manage 10 different tasks. With AI, we can delegate and automate so that a one-person operation can perform as well as, if not better than, a 10-person company.

Beyond productivity, every entity and institution faces problems that need sound solutions. In the past, SaaS (software as a service) companies charged a high premium to help businesses solve those problems. Now, any person with expert knowledge can develop a customized solution to address a specific, unique challenge. This reduces operational costs, freeing up resources for growth and expansion.