by River Hampton, staff writer
AI continues to gain traction within the academic space; students use it to write essays and discussion posts, and professors use it to build content and grade assignments.
The controversy around AI use then leads to discussion in the classroom about ethical practices and how much is too much. ChatGPT, a free AI chat bot, is used frequently by students for academic writing. The program can be asked questions, given paragraphs to review, and be prompted to write full essays.
The growing problem with AI programs is a lack of student voice and creativity when full essays are prompted. However, on the flip side of the coin professors are beginning to use AI to assist with grading papers, causing further controversy regarding ethics.
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While some students and educators are adamant against the use of AI in any sense,
others use AI to reduce the stress of research and help inspire their writing.
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Ezekiel Siegrist, a journalism student asked, “If professors are using AI to grade papers, wouldn’t students want to use AI to write the to get the best grade? Since an AI bot is going to write exactly what another AI bot is looking for when grading.”
As AI evolves, the number of tasks we rely on it to complete will increase. However, AI shouldn’t replace human creativity and thought.
Katie Wheeler, a communication professor at PPSC and AI enthusiast, said, “In my courses, I teach the difference between AI-assisted versus AI-generated. AI tools can easily be turned into assistants to support us in our academic work.”
Wheeler has begun adding D2L prompts to teach her students how to turn ChatGPT into their assistant, giving them practice at using AI ethically in school now and in careers later.
One anonymous student pointed out that in business classes, students are being taught how to use AI for a variety of tasks, that way students are ready for real-world businesses that are beginning to use AI programs to boost productivity and minimize human error.
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The important thing to remember as a student, and professor, is to use AI as a tool to assist creativity and productivity,
and not allow it to replace real human voices.
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AI can be used for more than just generating conversation or assisting with essay prompts for inspiration. Sarah McMahon, a journalism professor, recommends Otter.ai for transcribing phone, video, and in-person interviews.
Otter.ai is a free transcription application that can be paid for to unlock more features. This program can record interviews and conversations, breaking down the final recording into a fairly legible transcript, even separating the speakers for ease of reference later.
ChatGPT can be used as a valuable resource for ‘peer-review’ or to generate conversation when students are feeling stuck. It may not always provide accurate information however, and this is where students should be cautious and further research their inquiries outside of AI.
Natural Reader is an AI screen reader app that can be downloaded for free as a Google Chrome extension. This allows users to choose from a variety of masculine and feminine voices for reading articles, online textbooks, studies, and more. Users can control the speed and even upload PDFs or MP3 files into the application. This tool can be useful for students who struggle with dyslexia or other reading impairments.
While some students and educators are adamant against the use of AI in any sense, others use AI to reduce the stress of research and help inspire their writing. For some, AI can mean the difference between being overwhelmed and finding inspiration.
The important thing to remember as a student, and professor, is to use AI as a tool to assist creativity and productivity, and not allow it to replace real human voices.
