AI Advice for Students
1- Think Beyond Academic Integrity
Not just “Is this cheating or not cheating?”
But also, “Am I taking the opportunity to learn, practice, and cultivate my skills?”
To some students, college now feels like, “How well I can use ChatGPT.” Others describe writing essays as a coordination problem: get the prompt, feed it to the bot, skim the output, add some filler, hit submit. No thinking required, just interface management.
2-Define Your own Educational goals
Ask yourself: “Besides grades, what are my goals as a student?”
Prioritize learning and skill development
Seize opportunities to get the practice you need to become a better thinker, writer, and communicator.
3-Prompt to Challenge your Thinking
Instead of outsourcing your thinking (“Suggest a thesis statement I can use for my essay.”). Look for ways to think critically about the subject (“Ask me tough questions to help me figure out my thesis statement.”).
Don’t just ask, “Am I outsourcing the writing to AI?” Ask, “Am I outsourcing the thinking to AI?” We must use AI to expand our mind’s capacity to engage, rather than using it to outsource our thinking.
4- Focus on AI Literacy & Integration
Unless you want to build AI systems and become a data scientist, focus on taking outdated processes and updating them to make use of the available AI tools. Understanding the benefits and limitations of AI in light of ethics should be the goal, along with figuring out how to mesh it into your workday.
5- Double Down on your Humanity
• We can’t let it strip us of our humanity.
• Optimistically, AI may be “a piece of technology that, instead of replacing humanity, amplifies it.”
• We must retain oversight & not lose ourselves by depending on the machine.
• Doubling down on what makes you human may be what saves you from being replaced or minimized by AI.
6- Get Well-rounded
Be well- rounded in liberal arts: think of your gen ed classes as now core classes. Focus specifically on growing these skills: analytic thinking, creativity, information literature, resilience, agility, leadership, self-motivation, empathy, curiosity. Their value will rise as AI takes over routine tasks.
7- Distinguish between AI-generated content, AI-assisted content, & AI-supplemented content
Group A ❌ Group B ✅ Group C 🤔
AI-generated content AI-assisted content/writing AI-supplement content
Facilitated writing/learning
AI-generated content ❌ is entirely produced by the AI or sections are produced by the AI, based on detailed instructions (prompts) provided by the author. Some AI is best thought of as a set of automation tools that function as closed systems that do their work without oversight—like ATMs and dishwashers.
In academia, it is not acceptable under normal circumstances unless there are significant and clear reason why this was necessary. However, in business, it is likely to be treated as acceptable when the content is merely informational and not intended to be creative. The focus in this situation is accuracy and speed with minimal effort as opposed to authenticity. For instance, a summary of a business meeting or an email answering a particular question about the business, where it is assumed, the writer may incorporate AI-generated content.
Group B ✅ is work that is predominantly written by an individual but has been improved with the aid of AI tools. AI is part of the process. The author remains in control, and the AI merely acts as a polishing tool. As opposed to automation tools, these collaboration tools—like chain saws and word processors. In any given application, AI is going to automate or it’s going to collaborate, depending on how we design it and how someone chooses to use it.
This kind of assistance is generally accepted by most publishers as well as the Committee on Publication Ethics, without the need for formal disclosure. This includes: creating outlines, improving clarity, grammar, summarizing, brainstorming, generating transcription, condensing notes, creating study guides, practice questions, editing, and suggesting alternative approaches to a problem.
Group C 🤔 includes changing phrasing, generating a citation list, revising sentence structure, reducing word count, etc. Writers and publishers disagree about whether using AI in this way is ethical or not.
