The Homework Machine Ep 4 "Busted!"

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Aug 18, 2025

Students today grapple with the allure of AI tools like ChatGPT for schoolwork, often blurring the lines of academic integrity. Amelia's struggle with a new English class leads her to rely on AI, impacting her relationship with her teacher. Meanwhile, high-achieving students face ethical dilemmas as they navigate the complexities of AI usage. As graduation approaches, the phenomenon of senioritis exacerbates cheating tendencies, highlighting the need for open dialogue about trust and support in education.

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ANECDOTE

Student Busted Using ChatGPT

Amelia used ChatGPT for an extra-credit English assignment after feeling unfairly graded by a new teacher.
The teacher checked version history, confronted her, and Amelia felt exposed and misunderstood.

ANECDOTE

Selective Use Of AI For Busy Work

Miriam used ChatGPT to generate summaries for a tedious environmental science assignment and then rewrote them in her own voice.
She judged the task as busy work and chose AI to save time for more meaningful learning.

ANECDOTE

Grammarly Triggers AI Detectors

Caitlin used Grammarly suggestions and was later flagged by an AI detector that misattributed her edits to AI writing.
The teacher treated it as a warning and had her rewrite the essay, leaving Caitlin feeling offended but understood.

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Students tell us that they know learning in schools is important. But sometimes, turning to ChatGPT to get their work done feels like the best option. AI might help with what they perceive as busy work, or they might be confused about what counts as a legitimate use, and what counts as cheating.

And sometimes, students tell us, they know they’re crossing a line. When that happens, it’s usually because they’ve hit a wall in the learning process, and generative AI presents a quick and easy way through the blockage. For teachers, there is no single, off the shelf solution, that will ensure students make wise decisions, but understanding why students turn to AI can be a helpful starting point.

This episode was produced by Andrew Meriwether Jesse Dukes. We had editing from Ruxandra Guidi and Alexandra Salomon. Reporting and research from Natasha Esteves, Holly McDede, Andrew Parsons, Marnette Federis, and Chris Bagg. Sound design and music supervision by Steven Jackson. Production help from Yebu Ji. Data analysis from Manee Ngozi Nnamani and Manasa Kudumu. Special thanks to Josh Sheldon and Eric Klopfer. Administrative support from Jessica Rondon.

Featured guests include Miriam Reichenberg, Kaitleen Evangelista, as well as anonymous students. Thanks to InTandem for facilitating interviews.

Thanks to Greer Murphy and Jessa Kirk, at UC Santa Cruz's Academic Integrity Office. Check out Greer Murphy's co-authored survey of academic integrity policies.

Original music for this series was created by Steven Jackson, Andrew Meriwether and Jesse Dukes, as part of the music project Cue Shop. Thanks to Will Grueb, Andy Wilds, and the MIT Music Department for letting us use the MIT Harpsichord.
The research and reporting you heard in this episode was supported by the Spencer Foundation, the Kapor Foundation, the Jameel World Education Lab, the Social and Ethical Responsibility of Computing initiative at MIT, and the RAISE initiative, Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education also at MIT.

We had support from Google’s Academic Research Awards program.