RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A Wake County principal is letting parents know artificial intelligence is becoming a problem at his school. Wakefield High School Principal Malik Bazzell sent parents a letter saying the school is seeing an increase in students using AI on assignments. Some students are handing in assignments completely copied from sites like Chat GPT with zero original writing. He said this is preventing teachers from assessing students reading and writing. Melvyn Stewart said he now plans to talk to his Wakefield High School 11th grader about AI. "It might make kids a little lazier mentally, so they don't have to work as hard and they get away with more," Stewart said. Kristen Jackson, a high school social studies teacher in Wake County, said verbiage is the big AI give away. "It used to be plagiarism was the thing, copying and pasting from Wikipedia," Jackson said. "This whole territory of having something completely foreign write or do an entire assignment is brand new." Bazzell said the county considers unauthorized use of AI plagiarism, writing, "Our goal in following this policy is not to catch students 'cheating', but to uphold academic integrity and foster learning." Jackson said she mostly sees students resort to AI out of desperation and stress, a temptation she doesn't want them to have. "I've moved completely to paper pencil," Jackson said. "I think my kids only write one or two online writing prompts in the entire semester for me." But Bazzell also said AI can be a great tool for learning. Jackson agreed, saying she even uses it sometimes for ideas. "We probably need to start teaching kids about it, rather than creating some sort of barrier because they're going to use it no matter what," Jackson said. "They need to learn how to use it properly, not as a supplement or a replacement for the things they are learning." The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction does have a guide book for schools on how to use AI and training for teachers, saying the training can help teachers prepare students for a world where AI literacy will be key.