TEXAS — Texas students are the second most likely to use AI to cheat, according to a recent study by a team of professional writers at EssayPro. The study focused on Google searches for AI writing tools, including “ai essay writer” and “how to use ai for essays,” to determine which state has the most students seeking a quick fix.

The Lone Star State toppled out at an average of 259.2 searches each month per one million of the population, bringing Texas in at a second, just below Utah.

The rise of AI engines, such as ChatGPT, makes inputting requests, such as creating an essay, and receiving an output of a fully loaded, but often generic essay, more accessible to the average internet user.

AI technology was a hot topic at this year’s South by Southwest Conference, held annually in Austin, Texas. A large focus that experts in the tech industry focused on was creating safeguards for the rising use of this technology. The panel “Meaningful & Safe AI: Policy & Research Perspectives” led by Kristina Ishmael, who began as a public elementary school teacher who then moved on to creating policy for AI on a state level, covered the pros and cons of introducing technology to students.

“Every research-based study that’s found that AI works in education has been of something that has a student model. It is tracking where a student is,” said Jeremy Roschelle of Digital Promise. “In the case of teaching students how to read, ‘Which words do you know? Which words don’t you know?’”

“These things make mistakes all the time,” said Roschelle. “These things are trained on finished products. They’re not trained on studying tutoring interactions.”

Texas officials have weighed in on the growing concern of AI. Gov. Greg Abbott established the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council in 2023 as part of House Bill 2060. The council’s primary concern will zero in on AI technology “developed, employed, or procured by Texas state agencies.”

Author Adam J at EssayPro commented on the findings. 

“A.I models excel and enhance the hard work a student puts into their essays. It can even help with generating ideas and putting thoughts into a coherent sentence,” he said. “However, overuse of A.I can cause students to lose important skills such as critical thinking and research skills. Generative learning models draw from existing material, opening the door for plagiarism concerns. It also has a limited knowledge base and can completely make up information from scratch with no basis in reality.”