As the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more widespread, students and professors alike are grappling with its evolving role in higher education.
For many professors, including Gregory Williams, Associate Professor of Politics and Policy, the growing presence of generative AI represents both a challenge and an opportunity.
“If it’s generative, I’m against it,” Williams said, explaining that while the technology has become unavoidable, “Students are here to write, to learn how to hone their skills. AI is not helping them do that.”
Across Writing Boston courses, professors are asked to incorporate some level of AI education into their syllabi, though the approach varies from section to section.
Williams, who teaches the history-focused Athens in America section of Writing Boston, incorporates a short unit exploring AI’s generative capabilities – focusing on the limitations of tools like ChatGPT and their implications for authorship and originality.
“It is beneficial for students to be media savvy,” Williams said. “So we should learn about the different types of AI. We should learn how people use them. We should learn how to use them.”
In Professor Brendan Halpin’s Boston’s Neighborhoods section, conversations about AI have taken a slightly different shape, with students examining the ethical sides of the technology.
“The main thing that [Professor Halpin] was trying to instill in us was that AI is harmful to us, because students are allowing themselves to become more ignorant by relying on these tools,” said Lou May, a freshman Economics student.
Despite these ongoing class discussions, both students and professors acknowledge the difficulty of addressing a technology that many already rely on.
“At the beginning of the class, he took a poll of who was using AI regularly and 80% of the class raised their hands,” May said. “So, he could only follow up with encouragement to not use it.”
Williams expressed similar frustrations about the pace at which AI has entered academic life, noting that policies and pedagogy have yet to catch up.
“We have the [same problem] in all of our courses, which is that people use generative AI to create their documents,” he said. “AI has become such a large part of education that it’s nearly impossible to fully avoid.”
Still, both May and Williams see value in the conversations unfolding across Simmons’ classrooms. While May described their discussions as “helpful for an intellectual understanding of the topic,” they also emphasized that the real challenge lies in finding meaningful ways for students to navigate a shifting educational landscape.
Williams agrees that the solution will come from balance, rather than outright prohibition. “AI is coming up in all our courses,” he said. “I just want students to use it responsibly.”
Until that balance is found, professors like Williams and Halpin – and students like May – will continue to wrestle with what responsible AI use looks like in a world where technology and education are increasingly intertwined.
