Mark Vopat, a philosophy professor at Youngstown State University, has banned the use of generative AI in the classroom. But that doesn’t mean students won’t try to use it.
“In fact, many students had AI write papers on data ethics and plagiarize their papers, and the students who were there didn’t even know what to say,” Vopat said.
But beyond academic dishonesty, Vopat said he thinks AI is preventing students from grappling with big ideas like philosophers do.
“I actually want them to wrestle with the material…difficulty is a good thing. It allows them to move information from short-term memory to long-term memory,” Vopat said. “It allows them to learn how to make connections between difficult concepts.”
The advent of AI tools like ChatGPT over the past few years has changed the landscape of higher education, with recent studies suggesting that 80-90% of college students use ChatGPT in their classes. But for some, especially professors, long-standing teaching practices and patterns have been upended, and some are struggling to adapt. And a recent national survey of faculty found that 95% are concerned that students’ overreliance on AI will undermine critical thinking skills and undermine academic integrity.
As tools become more sophisticated, Vopat wondered how professors can tell if their students are using AI. Violating academic ethics guidelines usually only results in a failing assignment or test.
”However, in some cases, the next step may be to report the case to the university and seek harsher penalties, such as suspension or expulsion. Nowadays, with the advent of AI, it is becoming difficult to even do that unless the student approves, right? Because generally without evidence, students will say, “No, I wrote that.” And there are legitimate problems in detecting it. ”
AI in the classroom
Most universities in Ohio have broad policies that allow professors to take their own approaches to AI in the classroom.
At one end of the spectrum are the Vopats of the world. Another is Professor Stephanie Moore of Kent State University. She encourages students to experiment with AI, as long as she cites it in her digital public relations and social media classes. During a recent classroom visit, students discussed the benefits of Coca-Cola’s AI-generated Christmas TV commercials and talked about their experiments with AI.
“Students are tasked with identifying use cases and identifying ways to use AI to automate tasks and processes,” Moore explained.
Moore’s research suggests that modern PR professionals are frequently using AI in their work, and she wants her students to prepare for that reality. Her attitude is that professors must adapt their curriculum to changing times.
“We need to take a step back in terms of assignments and recalibrate to really focus on critical thinking. Maybe we need to change the way we do student writing activities, incorporate that into the classroom, teach them to start drafting on their own, and then use AI to enhance their activities,” she explained. “So we’ve done a lot of work to make the challenges more rewarding in terms of critical thinking and getting them to use their own creativity.”
Senior Tate Bryan thought a content strategy developed by a popular AI tool called Claude could help him market his blog about Hollywood’s Golden Age.
“We provide content calendars, content pillars, and social media strategies to deliver SEO and growth,” she explained. “It’s tailored for professionals because they know the terminology they learn in class.”
However, the students also confronted the limits of programming.
Sr. Busola Sobola wanted to use AI tools to develop a video marketing campaign for shea butter that targeted African women like her. They weren’t that accurate.
“This is clearly an American, African-American woman, definitely not an African woman,” she says with a laugh, showing me the AI-generated photo.
The synthesized voice was also incorrect.
”I prompted further. Can I make it more Nigerian or add an African accent? Then they started using some Nigerian slang, but they still said the words in a Western accent,” she said.
Studies suggest that AI tools reproduce human racial bias across multiple systems and disciplines, from medicine to language models.
AI and the future for students and professors
Despite its limitations, knowledge of AI is in demand in some industries and modern workplaces, said Karericha Duckworth, a preceptor in the computer science department at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C). So last year, she created an introductory computer science curriculum from scratch to teach students how to use AI tools together. One of the major class projects at the end of last year was for students to develop a plan to use AI to upgrade the IT infrastructure of a hypothetical veterinary hospital.
Duckworth said the assignment mimics what many students might do after college.
Yigal Kaufman
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Idea Stream Public Media
“I think we have to continue to be innovative in order for these students to understand and appreciate technology, right? So, for me, it was a natural fit. We’re going to use AI responsibly,” she said.
Duckworth’s classes are a mix of college and high school students who take the class for college credit. Some say that the use of AI in assignments is completely prohibited in current high schools. Andre Donerson, a senior at Cleveland Central Catholic High School, said he has long had an interest in computer science, but being exposed to AI in the classroom influenced his future career.
“I have now transitioned to trying to find a major with a specific focus on AI,” Donerson said.
Some universities are working on advancing technology. Bowling Green University and the University of Akron recently announced majors and programs focused on AI. And Ohio State University said last year that it planned to incorporate AI into all classes and wanted all students to graduate with “fluency” in AI. YSU’s Vopat has doubts about the rush.
“Everyone makes it seem like it’s this great tool, but it’s only a tool if you know how to use it and understand it or have the basics,” he said. “If I don’t know how to write well, I don’t want an AI to write something for me, right?”
Vopat worries that if AI does all the hard work for students, they will leave universities without the critical thinking skills and knowledge they need to change the world for the better.
