The usage of generative artificial intelligence tools remains a contentious topic in academia and among the student body.
As AI continues to be developed and becomes more and more popular, it has become even more present on campus. Many students often utilize artificial intelligence to assist in the completion of their assignments, to organize their thoughts or to study.
However, there are many questions about whether the usage of AI tools is ethical or constitutes academic dishonesty.
Another concern with the usage of artificial intelligence is the substantial environmental impact associated with its use.
Ben McElroy, junior criminal justice and history major, said he believes the usage of AI is an easy way out for students, but it has legitimate uses.
“I feel like a lot of people tend to use AI for the wrong reasons,” McElroy said. “However, there are, you know, some things with like helping come up with ideas or helping to find sources, but I feel like AI is the easy way out.”
McElroy said he believes the usage of artificial intelligence is counterproductive, as it will not help you learn how to do things in the real world post-college.
“I get it; college is a lot, but I feel like people use AI to write their papers for them, and it doesn’t help. It doesn’t benefit you because in the real world, you’re gonna have to know how to write, you’re gonna have to know how to talk to people,” McElroy said. “If you have an AI generator doing it for you, you’re not learning anything.”
McElroy said he believes it’s acceptable to use artificial intelligence to help with research or to gather new ideas and perspectives.
“There are good ways to use AI, absolutely. I feel like you can use AI to brainstorm ideas or to help with research,” McElroy said. “It can also kind of give you different perspectives. You can be like, ‘Okay, I can use what I’ve thought of and also bring in this from the AI.’”
Isaac Campbell, junior biological science major, said he thinks artificial intelligence can be very valuable when used properly.
“I think when AI is used properly, it can be really effective for both research as well as studying,” Campbell said. “As a biology major, I use it a lot, especially in research projects to find good sources that, at times, it would take me two to three hours to find. It can find it in ten minutes.”
Campbell said the usage of AI comes down to the person using it and their intent.
“AI is a very helpful tool, but it can also be used really badly,” he said. “When I think of AI, I sort of think of it like a knife. You can use a knife to cut vegetables or to hurt people.”
On top of helping to study and find sources, Campbell said he also uses AI to assist in the writing process through drafting and editing.
“I think for drafting, and it actually does some pretty good grammar editing. I also use it a lot for synonyms, so for example if I use ‘in conclusion’ a lot, I will say, ‘Can you generate synonyms for in conclusion?’ and it will list them out.”
Another valuable way to use AI comes from its ability to generate ideas, Campbell said.
“I also use it for ideas,” he said. “I took a creative writing class, and in the creative writing class, I would use it to give me topics that I could write about, and then I would use those topics to write the story.”
Ashton Pack can be contacted at [email protected].
