The legend of John Henry is becoming all too real for college students.
Powerful steel driver John Henry battled steam-powered jackhammers in a railroad-building race. John Henry showed his indomitable human spirit and resistance to industrialization by winning a race against machines, but he died of exhaustion soon after the race ended.
As the use of generative AI increases, many college students find themselves living their own version of the story.
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that generates new content from prompts. Typically used in higher education to create images, text, code, and videos. This technology uses massive datasets and deep machine learning to explore and create content on the internet.
The use of generative AI in education is controversial. This technology can generate complete responses to assignments with simple prompts, enabling plagiarism and potentially threatening academic integrity.
The University of Northern Colorado does not completely prohibit the use of generative AI. Professors have discretion over technology and can give students permission to use it.
The use of generative AI has become the norm for many students. ChatGPT is the most popular AI platform to use because it can generate human-like responses to essays, solve mathematical equations, and provide a quick summary of reading material. ChatGPT pulls information from across the Internet to generate quick responses, but not all of the answers provided are accurate.
However, generative AI will not be used as a complete job replacement. Many students use it as a tool to help them study.
Quinten Riggs is a second-year Spanish education major. He uses generative AI to create study guides and condense long assigned readings into summaries.
“The rise and future use of AI is inevitable, and I need to be prepared to use AI as a tool rather than the crutch that most others in academia use,” Riggs said. “I think AI is being used to take away a lot of the drudgery that we currently have.”
This sentiment is shared by many college students outside of UNC.
Llesica Escobar is a first-year nursing student at Front Range Community College. Escobar also uses generative AI to aid learning.
“I think it’s very useful if you want help with homework, etc.,” Escobar said.
However, many students are frustrated that their peers are using generative AI in place of academic work.
“I think everyone should be frustrated with the people who use it to get their jobs done,” Riggs said.
Angelo Sotelo is a first-year business major at FRCC. He works multiple jobs and goes to school part-time. Sotelo is troubled by the use of AI in schools.
“It just frustrates me that they’re not doing their job,” Sotelo said. “They’re trying to go out into this world and do what they’re supposed to do, and they’re not ready to do it.”
Sotelo said that while AI can be a useful tool for studying, many students do not utilize it in that way.
“So the AI is very good,” Sotelo said. “But then people are easily fooled.”
This sentiment is shared by Escobar.
“If you use it, honestly, what are you learning?” Escobar said.
Aaron Ortega, a sophomore computer science major at Colorado State University, also sees the benefits of AI, but is concerned about how it is managed and marketed to the public.
“I’m concerned about the use of AI,” Ortega said. “Yes, AI is improving every day, but companies are just looking at the bottom line and avoiding some obvious problems.”
Generative AI leverages AI data centers that can use 5 to 10 times more power than traditional data centers. Energy consumption at the center increases carbon emissions, which has a significant impact on the environment.
Additionally, there are concerns about the use of water at the centre. Many centers are water-cooled and require large amounts of high-quality fresh water to remain functional. According to NPR, large data centers can use nearly 5 million gallons of water each day.
Ortega is also concerned about the impact AI will have on humans.
“The environmental impact of data centers is terrible,” Ortega said. “It’s bad to become so dependent on it that you forget how to do things yourself.”
According to the Duke Center for Teaching and Learning, over-reliance on AI can reduce critical thinking and reduce reasoning and argumentation skills.
Lynn Allen is a professor of communication at UNC. She has been researching AI for several years and teaches students how to use generative AI as a tool rather than a replacement.
“I think it’s refreshing for students, especially with the focus on AI, not just the idea of ’don’ts’ about things to avoid,” Allen said in an interview with BearNews. “But what we realized is that these technologies are actually becoming part of our world.”
Allen teaches how to work with AI, not for AI. Students will learn about the role of AI in today’s society and how to adapt and use it correctly, rather than simply letting technology control their work completely.
Allen summed up his lesson in just five words.
“Don’t let that take advantage of you,” Allen told Bear News.
