KENNESAW, Ga. | Sep 30, 2024

Now that artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft’s Copilot allow students to create essays, complex calculations, and discussion posts in seconds, how can colleges and universities guarantee students are learning rather than simply learning to use AI?

According to Kai Larsen, a renowned AI researcher and the keynote speaker at Kennesaw State University’s recent “AI in Higher Education” symposium, educators shouldn’t be afraid of AI. Instead, faculty should teach students to use the tools confidently while continuing to measure their ability to perform the same tasks on their own.

“If using AI to be competitive is what we need students to learn, then we need to measure that they know how to do this,” said Larsen, a professor of information systems at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. “But, AI is always better when the user is knowledgeable. If we don’t reward memorizing the skills rather than having an AI do the homework right from the start of the class, then students aren’t going to get there.”

Larsen was one of 13 presenters at “AI in Higher Education,” hosted by KSU’s Michael J. Coles College of Business to explore the challenges and opportunities of using AI in the classroom and the workforce. KSU faculty, administrators, and students spoke alongside industry leaders in the AI space from companies like Captivatar, Invesco, and AI Growth Ops. The event was the second annual joint academic-industry symposium on AI hosted by the Coles College.

AI typically refers to predictive language generators and other algorithms that create responses (in the form of text, images, videos, calculations, etc.) based on the user’s inputs. AI tools train on existing data published online to become better at giving users the responses they want.

In his role at University of Colorado Boulder, Larsen has conducted extensive research on how language-processing technologies can predict human behavior, specifically how humans interact with technology, make investment decisions, vote, and even potentially avoid cancer.

Larsen co-authored the 2023 research paper, “So What if ChatGPT Wrote It?” which appeared in the International Journal of Information Management. The paper cites the potential of generative AI to enhance efficiency in a variety of industries with specific, easy-to-predict processes – tourism, marketing, information technology – but also to create legal questions around ownership, copyright, and data integrity.

Like all tools, Larsen suggests that striking a balance between using and relying on AI is important. It’s up to educators to determine where the line is in the classroom.

“We know that students learn more when they struggle through a problem, but why would they bother when ChatGPT can do it faster and better?” he said. “These are the questions we have to help students reason through. But, first, we have to find the answers ourselves.”

Jomon Paul, the Coles College’s Associate Dean of Research and Accreditation and the AI symposium’s organizer, said that one of the event’s chief goals each year is to bring AI innovators and educators together to discuss embracing AI while maintaining academic integrity.

“While it’s important to address this issue creatively through detection tools and innovative teaching practices, it’s crucial to recognize that AI’s impact on higher education goes beyond academic integrity,” Paul said. “AI also brings significant value to career preparedness. We must equip students with the essential skills for the future.”

Paul’s approach to achieving balance with AI is for faculty to rethink their curriculums, assessment methods, and learning goals to focus more on critical thinking skills and analytics and less on tasks like basic communication, which have become routine for AI.

While the presenters at “AI in Higher Education” all approach the subject of AI with differing levels of apprehension, the consensus among them all is that AI is here to stay and must be understood by the current crop of students if they plan to succeed in their careers.

“AI won’t make people expendable,” Paul said, “but those who intuitively and creatively use AI will thrive. AI makes us more efficient, enhances creativity, and helps us improve in ways we couldn’t before. So, why shy away from it? Embrace AI and avoid being left behind.”

-Patrick Harbin