Western Middle School student presents capstone warning of AI reliance; board thanks presenter

An eighth grader from Western Middle School told the Greenwich Board of Education on Tuesday that generative artificial intelligence is increasingly easy to access and risks undermining students’ critical thinking and academic honesty.

Sam Otten, who said he has experience in computer programming, introduced a short documentary as part of his capstone project and described interviews with software engineers and others who use language models in their daily work. “Students, I think, pretty frequently, are attempting to pass off their own writing, or rather pass off writing as their own even though they've used some kind of generative AI to help them produce it,” Sam told the board.

Sam proposed several remedies, including returning to in‑person, handwritten exams to preserve assessment integrity and teaching students how to use AI responsibly. “Some other solutions could be imposing stricter artificial intelligence use policies or even teaching proper use of these platforms to prevent the problem before it even starts,” he said.

Board response Superintendent Dr. Jones thanked Sam and asked whether he had used AI in preparing the project; Sam said he had not. Dr. Jones praised the interviews Sam conducted and said she appreciated the timely perspective.

Why it matters Sam’s presentation reflects growing local and national conversations about how schools should integrate AI instruction and enforcement into classroom practice — balancing opportunities for productivity with concerns about learning loss, academic integrity and assessment design.

Ending Board members thanked Sam for attending and presenting; Sam’s recommendations will feed into broader district conversations about technology use and academic integrity.