Allegheny faculty members and the student chair of the Honor Committee discussed the role of artificial intelligence in higher education during a panel discussion on Jan. 30. in Lawrence Lee Pelletier Library.
AI technology is getting more advanced, and future generations will more likely grow up with a much deeper understanding of its capabilities. However, as AI learns from human interactions, it’s important for educators to carefully engage with it. This means not only exploring what AI can do but also recognizing its limitations and ethical concerns.
Andrew Miller, the research and digital instruction librarian, asked the panel, “How do you use research in your classroom or your research?”
“AI is how I make my dollar,” said Janyl Jumadinova, department chair of computer and information science. “My research is broadly in the area of AI, looking at how we predict the building algorithms to predict different things. Also, we work in robotics, so this field has been around for a while, especially before these large language models became popular.”
She explained how AI has been an important part of her academic career since graduate school, shaping her research and approach to teaching. As AI becomes very common in education, Jumadinova said it’s important for educators to develop familiarity with technology.
Alexis Hart, professor of english and director of writing, said she primarily uses AI to assist with interview transcripts in mixed methods research.
“As someone who teaches writing, I think it’s important to consider ethical uses of AI,” Hart said. “Students need to learn both its advantages and its limitations, they need to trust but verify — just like with tools such as spellcheck and Grammarly.”
As AI becomes a bigger part of everyday life, Kalé Haywood, chair of the history department, is taking a careful approach to how it’s used in the classroom. She isn’t rushing to adopt AI in her own work just yet, and her attitude comes from her own experiences with technology changing so quickly.
“In my own research, I’m not using AI,” Haywood said. “Last week, I told my students, when I was in college, there was no internet. We were playing catch-up with every new generation.”
She pointed out that today’s students won’t face that same challenge, but they’ll have to learn to use AI as it becomes an even bigger part of their world.
“It’s better to learn how to use it now because the generations coming up behind you are already going to have this knowledge,” Haywood said.
Haywood doesn’t see AI as a perfect solution, though. She sees its potential but also its risks, especially when it comes to working with images.
“I’d say it’s ‘don’t trust and then verify,’” Haywood said.
She had her students look at fake versions of famous historical photos, like those from the Cuban Revolution.
“They’ve seen images of Che Guevara and others that aren’t real,” Haywood said, pointing out how easy it is to be misled.
Haywood believes AI could be helpful in education, but it needs to be used carefully.
“Which piece of AI is going to be the most helpful?” Haywood asked, making it clear that she has to think carefully about how it fits into teaching. “I need to make space in the classroom for it, and make the right choices.”
While Haywood is still figuring out how AI fits into history classes, she’s more open to how it can be used in other areas, like music.
“I think music is the next big thing,” Haywood said. “You can not only generate poems, but also create songs that rhyme in another language.”
“Not sure if it’s helpful in history class, though,” she added with a smile.
“This past summer, I used it more as a tool,” said NealyClare Wheat, ’25, the Honor Committee Chair. Wheat is new to the research world, learning through ChatGPT and asking specific questions so she can enhance her own skills.
“I see it within research as a tool to enhance but also again verify that what you’re doing is correct,” Wheat said.
In four years at Allegheny, she has never used AI in the classroom. As a psychology major, Wheat is looking at what AI currently does to people. While she has been working on her senior comp, she has had to sift through a large number of websites. Only during this did she realize that AI could be a helpful tool with organizing all her sites. With her being on the Honor Committee, she’s creating policies on how to use AI in classrooms for the next generations that come through.
“We should teach how to not use AI in a negative way,” Wheat said.
“AI can be very dangerous if used in a way that prohibits the learning, but not necessarily the efficiency of something you already know,” said Hans Vanderzyden, ’25, an attendee of the panel. “With my family being full of teachers in the high school and middle school level, they are running into problems of students not wanting to learn the basics and using AI to generate things without gaining knowledge of the basic concepts. So, teaching students how to not use AI in a negative way would benefit them.”
According to the panel, it’s okay to use AI to generate ideas as long as you know why you’re generating and what those ideas could be. This generation of teachers has to learn and accept that AI isn’t going anywhere, but students must understand that AI is only permitted under special conditions. Both sides of future generations should learn how to use generative AI properly.
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