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BIG Questions Institute Update

May 20, 2025, No. 186 (Read online)​

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If “Everyone is Cheating,” What Questions Should We Be Asking?

At a recent workshop with a few dozen Heads of School at independent schools in the U.S., one of the participants expressed yet one more layer of frustration in the frenzied college application process: “when AI is writing the essays and AI is reading them.” Another described it as a kabuki dance – referring to the elaborate, exaggerated, theatrical performance, with elements of obscuring the actors and reality, and often designed to emotionally manipulate the audience. As a political metaphor it refers to representing a type of posturing rather than a genuine conviction; as an education metaphor, it can refer to schooling as a facade for learning.

These comments stayed with me as an expression of the spiral we’ve gotten ourselves into in a race for achievement that harms young people, and doesn’t make any difference in the bigger picture of what our world needs. It’s a symptom of a problem that will only accelerate as AI grows exponentially more powerful. And it points to a public secret about how traditional schooling and its markers of “success” too often represent a performance that rewards compliance for those who figure out how to play the game of school.
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Last week’s New York Magazine story Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College, with the subheading “ChatGPT has unraveled the entire academic project” highlighted what seems like a tsunami coming for schools (in the midst of a kabuki performance?!). The headline might be motivated by clickbait, but based on patterns anyone in schools with good internet access has likely seen, and so many media stories – from teachers relying on AI, or students’ inability to struggle to solve difficult problems, or the increasing irrelevance of scores when AI is taking the test, or even “top” students’ inability to read an entire book – the sensational claims ring true.
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As AI continues to be trained with more and more content and nuance, the loss of struggle, or friction-less learning across the lifespan of learners, will only grow. This is not meant to incite a moral panic, but rather, an important conversation and action. If “everyone is cheating” doesn’t feel relevant to you, you’re probably working on a new approach to traditional schooling (and please reach out to share your story!) or you might not be paying attention.
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Before you start the next school year, it will be imperative to plan for significant adjustments in the organization of teaching and learning, in ways that encourage students to master new, foundational knowledge, in ways that foster greater student agency, and in ways that students can demonstrate their growth beyond traditional grades. To deem the inevitable use of AI as cheating and take a punitive approach seems like an anachronistic (and futile) quest to silo learning in school from learning in the world, and renders school even more performative than it has ever been. At the same time, we are only beginning to realize the harms from unleashing too much, too fast, ubiquitous tech on young minds, so a more relevant, responsive approach doesn’t mean unchecked technology use, either.
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Ironically, it’s become a common practice for educators to ask AI itself how to teach for critical thinking. Sure, try that. Then take time with your teams to imagine (then imagine harder!) what specific, generative (humanly generative, not generative AI) steps you can take, what learning dispositions will be helpful, and in what ways you need to adjust your teaching and learning approach in order to grow “human-centered learning.”
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You can start with foundational questions. At the Big Questions Institute we have been supporting educators with an inquiry process rooted in our 12 Big Questions, and a frame that begins with “Who are we now?” and “Who/what would we like to become?” It’s aligned with what Rebecca Winthrop, Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution and co-author of The Disengaged Teen. Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better suggests as a starting point in her conversation with Ezra Klein on his podcast:

• Ask Why? Get clear on the purpose of school.
• Ask How? How are kids learning? How do they learn best?
• Ask What? What is content worth learning? What are the important skills students need to acquire?
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To dig into these, you might consider the following questions worth exploring:

• If demonstrating knowledge of facts feels futile when the sum of human knowledge is already contained in the palm of one’s hand (a smartphone) or following a quick AI prompt, how can students obtain foundational knowledge to solve more difficult problems - in a way that develops their critical thinking?
• What does the role of teachers become if “cheating” (or acquiring facts) with AI is inevitable?
• Extrinsic motivation, like grades, is increasingly irrelevant in this AI-driven “unraveling,” and every student won’t be motivated to master foundational knowledge on their own, so where can intrinsic motivation come from?
• What sorts of assessment, if any, will be meaningful/useful/helpful as students strive to gain competencies and skills?
• How important is the knowledge of what's behind AI and its ethical use in a ubiquitous AI environment?
• In what ways can teachers encourage critical thinking and more “friction” in learning?
• What are your big questions?

A theme across my talks and presentations this year has been the “liminal” time in which we find ourselves, and this situation of “everyone is cheating” is certainly another representation of liminality, or this in-between time when uncertainty, complexity, and instability seem to dominate every sector and the overall zeitgeist. We can look at what’s going on as a threat to schooling, or embrace this wildly awesome-scary-overwhelmingly powerful technology we have access to as an opportunity. What if we embrace, not run away from this as a historic moment to transform what we do in schools into what we dream about for our students: more agency, more inquiry, more impact, and more inclusive opportunities for all children? This might take more courage and imagination than we’ve ever needed in our professional lives, and that’s not something the AI can take from us.

As always, I’d love to hear the questions you’re asking, and learn about the solutions you are uncovering.

In Peace,

Homa

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Further reading and listening to fuel your inquiry

“Catch them Learning: A Pathway to Academic Integrity in the Age of AI” by Tony Frontier in Cult of Pedagogy. As the potential for students to misuse AI tools raises ongoing questions about accountability, cheating, and academic integrity, Tony Frontier offers a framing on how to consider and talk about AI as a teacher.

​We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education, Ezra Klein podcast with Rebecca Winthrop. How should kids be educated in this new era of AI? According to Winthrop, we need to consider -- and rethink -- what the purpose of education is, how kids learn, and what they should learn, all in relation to the evolution of our modern world, and it is not easy.

​Playing into the Future: Rethinking Higher Education in the Age of AI, by Andrew Maynard. How do we encourage genuine engagement with AI? The answer is surprisingly playful. I frequently draw upon an analogy from MIT’s Media Lab, encouraging institutions to create AI playgrounds rather than playpens. A playpen is controlled and constrained—safe, but restrictive. A playground, in contrast, is an open, exploratory space where people freely experiment, learn, and innovate. Giving students, faculty, and staff room to experiment with AI without rigid boundaries fosters organic creativity, sparking bottom-up innovation. This is where the real breakthroughs emerge.

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Learn (and Partner!) With BQI

If you are making decisions for next year's budget, consider partnering with the Big Questions Institute.

Our team can support your inquiry into teaching, learning, strategy, student, and community-wide engagement (including more powerful, human-centered AI use). This could take the form of an opening keynote or professional development day, support to your strategic planning, your Board, or other thought partnership.

You can reach out directly to Homa Tavangar: homa@bigquestions.institute to schedule an exploratory call.

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