A teacher on Reddit relayed a worrying story about a Freshman student who argued that he shouldn't have to "think anymore" thanks to ChatGPT. This threw a new wrench into the instructor's typical answer to kids asking why they need to learn math, and it left them terrified.
Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT have been giving teachers headaches for years already, but this is next level.
Why learn to think when AI can do it for you?
In a Thursday post on the r/Teachers sub, r/mobius_ told the tale of a student who not only didn't want to do math—he didn't want to think at all.
"Freshman Algebra 1 course today, and I have a student who will almost always ask how this applies to real life," the teacher wrote. "Not in the typical 'I don’t want to learn this' way—he’s genuinely curious."
"Another kid jumps in not reading the conversation right and says 'I’m with ya man… why do we really need to learn any of this? ChatGPT will just do it all way faster.'"
The OP tried to explain that learning math isn't so much about formulas as it is about building problem solving and critical thinking skills. These translate to better performance in just about any job.
Unfortunately, this kid thinks that even those basic skills won't be needed in a ChatGPT future.
"This kid answers back, not just trying to rage bait me, that he does not think that’s a legitimate thing that’s important in the world anymore due to ChatGPT. That all decision-making in the future will be done by AI so why do we have to learn anything and why do we have to think anymore?"
Even proposing a hypothetical situation in which problem-solving would be needed on the spot didn't help.
"I’d tell my boss I was going to use ChatGPT, and they’re going to be happy about it because that’s going to always make the right choices," the student replied.
"This scares me," the teacher concluded.
ChatGPT is definitely not always making the right choices. A study published in February 2026 found that participants using LLMs to diagnose medical conditions got it wrong 65.6 percent of the time.
"Why does your boss even need you?"
Other teachers replying to the post suggested potential responses to try and convince this student to start using his own head. Some recommended questioning why any boss would keep him around if all he did was ask an LLM for answers.
"Why does your boss even need you if you're just going to ask ChatGPT for the answer? Wouldn't he just fire you and use ChatGPT himself instead?" r/sorta_good_at_words posited.
"I remind my students that rich people are not investing in AI so that they can pay you more," wrote r/chrisdub84. "If the only skills you have are the ones that can be done by AI, you will have a hard time finding a job."
Other imagined situations where programs like ChatGPT go down.
"With an angry buzz, the power goes off in the data center hosting ChatGPT," said r/PyroNine9. "It's up to you to make the repairs and bring it back up."
"You work for a nuclear reactor of the future," r/ScarInternational161 proposed. "The system has gone off line, power and auxiliary is down. No network, no power. You need to know the answer to THIS question in 10 minutes or the core will overheat. You have this book, this pencil, this paper. GO."
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