By Nurul Hassan Mohammad
Publication Date: 2026-05-06 13:51:00
Generative AI has become a part of everyday student life in Canada. As institutions focus on wrongdoing and exposure, a deeper shift is occurring that affects identity.
A recent report from KPMG Canada found that 73 percent of students use generative AI for schoolwork, and nearly half say it is their “first instinct.” It is also significant to note that many students also feel uncomfortable and fear that their use could be viewed as cheating.
The study is based on a survey of 684 university, college, vocational and high school students within a larger sample of 3,804 Canadians (aged 18 and over) on how people are adopting generative AI.
In my doctoral dissertation on STEM education in Ontario higher education, I examine how AI is changing not only the way students write, but also how they perceive voice, legitimacy, and what it means to be themselves.
Academic guidelines may define what cheating is, but they don’t address a more subtle problem: If AI helped…
