Canadian here, we weren’t allowed calculators until we got to graphing. People in my class still sucked at math, not because of calculators, but because they stopped doing most of the work. We did have calculators to take out at certain points, because they allowed for context and demonstrations sometimes. So while there were lazy idiots, I will say that for those who wanted to learn, they were very useful. Personally, I would never blindly trust ChatGPT to write an essay for me. I know I’d get caught eventually. But I might be the type to use it iteratively and ask for feedback. I type a little, feed it to ChatGPT, ask what it thinks and where it could improve. I wouldn’t consider that cheating, as feedback is the sort of thing an ideal teacher does anyway. I might get it to reword some things for me after I already typed it, and proof read it to figure out HOW it improved it. I’m still incentivized to learn this way because I get something done quicker if I can just rapidly type it out myself, but I also get direct feedback to correct my mistakes while I am still in the headspace I was in while I made them.