By: Tanner Huey, News Reporter, Kate Powell, News Reporter, Larkin West, Videographer
MOUNT BERRY, Ga.- Artificial Intelligence. It’s not a new concept, but one that has become prominent in the academic world in the past few years. With programs such as ChatGPT, that do have the potential to aid students in violations of academic integrity, AI has been struggling to find a place in all levels of academics.
AI has been the center of controversy for a while since most people believe that it was going to give students an easier way out of assignments. Dr. Brian Carroll, Professor of Communications and Department Chair at Berry College, comments on his initial impression of AI.
“So, my first sense of it, as an academic, was ‘this is going to make grading a lot harder’ because I won’t be able to tell whose work is actually their own work. That was my first reaction.”
But now that AI is becoming a staple resource in the workplace today, should colleges and universities be looking at ways to incorporate AI into coursework so students know how AI can be used to their advantage? Carroll shares his insights on how the recent evolution of AI has made it more approachable to work with.
“Since then, AI has become so sophisticated and varied, and as people are using it, they’re figuring out cool ways to use it and I see ’wow, this is going to really help me in my own work’ and I can see how it’s going to help my students in their work. And I think most importantly for us as a Comm. Department, I see how they’re going to use it in the workplace.”
Some see AI’s rising use in the workplace as a reason that students should learn to harness it. Others, however, believe students should not plan on using it in their future career, at least regarding certain career paths.
Tom Biondolillo, a Visiting Assistant Professor at Berry College who specializes in digital art, graphic design, and animation, discusses the shortcomings of artists who built careers with AI.
“A type of artist, if we were to call them, prompters, jumped in, and because it was so quick and so cheap they were hired for movies. They’re hired for animation. They’re hired for different productions. And right now, I think the shine is kind of coming off those types of people.”
Biondolillo continues about how the consequences of using AI as a cheap shortcut have caused the film industry to make another shift.
“It’s reflecting the industry back, especially film and animation, things like that, back to the need for a mind to already know the techniques and be able to do something with the techniques.”
AI can be a useful tool, but as Biondolillo touched on, it needs a person who understands the technique to drive the programming in the right direction.
This raises the question: should answers about AI usage largely depend on the ability of the user to prompt AI in the right direction? Some professors have been experimenting with course assignments that are focused on teaching students how to prompt AI in a way that’s beneficial to them.
Dr. Christy Snider, Associate Professor of History and Department Chair at Berry College, implemented such an assignment into her Honors 203 class, “A More Perfect Union.” Snider comments on this addition to the course.
“The assignment started off with all of them having to write a paper from a specific point of view… I had them run it through two different AI models because I think there’s lots of variations between if you’re using Claude or Microsoft or CoPilot or ChatGPT. Once they found the one they thought was best, I had them make changes to their prompts a couple of times to see if they could get more of what they really wanted out of it.”
Allowing students to engage and experiment with AI in academic settings can reduce the fear built by it only being seen as a violation of academic integrity. AI programs can be used as a research tool or as a study tool to give students more ways to engage in the learning process that could cater closer to their academic needs. Dr. Snider expands on these benefits.
“Even just helping students study and learn material, even if they’re not using it for what they’re actually turning into professors, I think it could be really helpful.”
Opinions on AI are still changing, but with people taking the time to experiment and figure out how AI can be prompted to their advantage, AI could be finding its place as a beneficial tool in collegiate academics.