Colleges are suggesting the return of blue books to combat the use of AI in essays. Many students disagree with the use of these books, but teachers are in support of the decision. Is this a step in the right direction with where AI, lack of critical thinking, and plagiarism is going nowadays?

Blue books are stapled booklets that students use to write essays or short-form answers without the interruption of technology. They provide students with the resources to use critical thinking skills, their research, and knowledge without cheating or the internet’s advice. They are also useful for developing handwriting and vocabulary skills. Blue books have been in use since the late 1920s, and they have proven efficient for showing students’ best work. This same level of effort is eliminated by online forms that are used in exams today in colleges.

The first reason that blue books are being brought back, as mentioned, is the use of AI in essays and homework. AI is on the rise with platforms such as Chat GPT, Gauth, or other robots trained for problem solving. Students use these shortcuts to study, plagiarize, or finish their work as fast as possible. However, this paves the way for technological dependence, when a person relies heavily on the internet or technology to finish all of their work and it greatly sets them behind in the long run. Typing in a prompt is not the same as using your own thinking and outlook on the topic provided, but this can be solved by simply using paper. With blue books, you can accurately measure what the student’s capabilities are in terms of writing and comprehension of the given material.

The second reason being the extreme drought of critical thinking skills. Students that have used AI frequently or haven’t provided any valuable information aren’t utilizing what they spend time learning in class. This sabotages their reading and writing comprehension. In college, those who go learn a ton about the real world and with the interruption of AI. Future jobs require critical thinking and without practice of using those, candidates set themselves up to be rejected from positions. As well as this harming students in the long run, essays and short-answer questions often have areas where students need to show their thinking, which if the work isn’t the student’s, no actual thinking is provided.

The final reason is due to vocabulary and spelling skills declining. Spellcheck and online dictionaries or word banks are at the tips of students’ fingers with their computers at use and some also utilize AI. While okay to use occasionally, depending heavily on these quick tools can lessen the ability to apply correct grammar on paper. Blue books could possibly alleviate the mistakes bad handwriting can cause too.

Overall, the use of AI in schools is too prominent not to question if we need to go back to the old ways of teaching and exams. Anything colleges and schools can do to return our state of originality and intellect counts. 

Cites –

https://apicciano.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2025/09/03/blue-books-making-a-comeback-on-college-campuses/ 

https://edsource.org/updates/the-return-of-the-blue-book-to-outwit-chatgpt-cheats

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/the-branding-battle-between-college-and-the-trades-is-heating-up-here-s-why-entrepreneurs-and-marketers-should-care/ar-AA1MmQGt