PHOENIX — Artificial intelligence has quickly become a major tool in college education that is raising new questions about how universities will adapt as the technology continues to evolve.
Arizona State University is one of many colleges exploring how AI is shaping both learning and expectations of what is the appropriate usage in higher education.
ASU was one of the first universities to collaborate with OpenAI, a software company that developed ChatGPT. This collaboration allowed students and faculty to incorporate AI into their coursework, the university says on their website.
While some professors view this as a positive step that could improve academic possibilities, others are worried it may lead to a loss in foundational skill sets such as writing, critical thinking and problem solving.
Patrick Phelan, Associate Dean and Professor at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, said that AI allows professors to develop problems for their students to solve, but there comes a challenge with it as well.
“It enables the teaching side to develop these kinds of newer and more realistic problems for the students to solve,” Phelan said. “I think that our real challenge as educators is how do we enable their use of these powerful tools, but at the same time develop that insight.”
ASU students are also divided on whether using this tool will lead to a positive outcome. Some say it helps their studies, while others worry it affects how much they truly learn.
Paulina Fimbres, a student studying Tourism Development and Management at Arizona State University, said that although she’s had a class that prompted the use of AI, she doesn’t see it as a replacement for learning.
“There really is a place and time for it, I feel like it can help you think, but if it's writing a whole essay for you then that's when it’s wrong,” Fimbres said. “There was a class where we were suggested to use AI, but other than that the usage of it has not impacted me too badly.”
Madison Ferreira, a student studying Nutritional Science, mentioned in a podcast interview that ChatGPT can be very useful and has helped her come up with different nutritional dietary plans for her assignments.
“The first time I noticed the usage of AI was about a year ago and I thought it was all a joke,” Ferreira said. “The more I saw people using it for informational purposes, the more I realized that ChatGPT can actually be very useful.”
As AI usage becomes more common, ASU and other universities are now working to determine how it can be used responsibly while still holding students to academic standards.
ASU has introduced guidelines that are meant to show students how to use AI and guide them to use it as a learning tool rather than an easy way out.
These guidelines consist of using AI only when instructed to by a professor, stating when AI assists with assignments and following academic integrity rules that prohibit submitting AI-generated work as your own.
Many concerns focus on careers that directly affect people’s lives, such as medicine. Some ASU students worry that if future doctors depend too much on AI, they may not develop the critical thinking skills they need.
Jenna Lazzara, a student studying pre-med at Arizona State University, said that she is concerned by how many medical students she sees using AI.
“It worries me seeing people around me using AI. Like these are our future doctors,” Lazzara said. “What happens when they’re in surgery one day and don’t remember what to do? Are they going to stop halfway through and ask ChatGPT? There’s no way.”
While students express their concerns, faculty members share that the bigger challenge isn’t the way AI is used, but how students choose to use it.
Phelan said AI is unlikely to disappear from higher education, but it is going to require new approaches from both professors and students.
“AI is already here,” Phelan said. “The question isn’t whether we use it or not, but how we integrate it in a way that produces thoughtful and knowledgeable graduates.”
