Question of the Week: AI and Education

Photos provided by Rampage student writer and photographer Savannah Thompson.

How do Bluefield University students feel about AI in educational spaces? Here’s what five students had to say:

• Nathaniel Gooden, Cybersecurity

  I feel AI should be a tool to aid, not used as a crutch. Many college students heavily rely on the use of AI, taking away the entire point of college. While use of AI as a point of quick access (enhanced google searches) and formatting problems is fine by me, turning in entire discussion or assignments without one original thought is reprehensible at worse and foolish at best. In my major (cybersecurity) we use AI as a double check tool to make sure scripts and code are working properly, [but] even it makes mistakes, requiring human knowledge to make the task successful. Long story short, AI as a tool to improve, double check, and learn descriptive material, ok. Used to autocomplete assignments and develop unoriginal ideas, no go.

• Amelia Garrett, English Education

  I just think that is so harmful because if humanity begins to rely on something that doesn’t have a soul, then we’re going to start discrediting the value of our soul. We’re going to start discrediting the value of the brain that the Lord has given us and the hands that God has given us. Like, why are we making AI flyers and AI posters and AI papers whenever the Lord gave us a sound mind and woke us up in the morning and gave us breath in our lungs to create and to speak and to think and to come up with something new and to ultimately reflect the glory of the Lord?

• Sara Dunphy, Biology Premedical with a Psychology minor

  I feel AI can be a very helpful tool within educational spaces but can be harmful to one’s education if not used properly. AI provides a lot of support in different areas, but I feel it is important to still utilize one’s own thinking which is an amazing gift God gave us.

• Hunter Elkins, Information Technology Major with a Criminal Justice Minor

  I feel that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has a very unique and everchanging role in education. It simultaneously has the ability to elevate human productivity and learning potential to levels we have never seen before, and it can also cause many people to not want to learn at all. It’s human nature to take the easy way out, and that is what AI is in most situations. AI generally has the ability to simulate the productivity of an unskilled human, and for this reason that why I think it’s hyper important we use AI properly. Key ways to do this include using AI as a study tool through generation of practice test questions, practice routines, finding sources, or generating ideas when stuck. AI should never be the first way to tackle an academic problem and should absolutely never be used to write entire essays or tests. I believe (especially in college where we students are paying for it) that relying on AI is throwing money away. The number of people graduating into an AI-filled job market will remain high, so I think it’s important to separate yourself from the group and remain a critical thinker. Outsourcing critical thinking to an AI chatbot run out of a datacenter is like outsourcing what makes humans unique to robots.

• Emma Vickers, Forensic Science and Criminal Justice

  I feel AI can be useful and helpful in educational spaces but can also be harmful. AI can be helpful if you encounter hard to understand material and need a simple breakdown. Or if you are stuck on a project and need a rough outline or starting point. However, while it’s useful for assistance on schoolwork, I believe it’s harmful to have AI do all the work for you. If you do not do anything yourself, did you truly learn or take away anything? It can easily be taken advantage of, and students may become overly reliant on it as they continue to use it.