Professors across disciplines at Covenant have differing views on artificial intelligence (AI), leading to varying policies concerning its use in the classroom. Some believe there is only one right way to use AI in education while others believe it varies across subjects.
Photo taken by Madison Bowden and Olivia Stefl
Dr. Phillip Bunn, who teaches political science, said he does not allow AI in his class at all. He wants students' work to be original, sprouting from their own creativity and understanding.
"I fear that students who lean too heavily on AI are becoming and will continue to become stunted examples of what God created humans to be, and through atrophy, lose much of their hard-won capacity for study, creation, memory, recollection and understanding," Bunn said.
Large language models, Bunn said, are different from other technologies in that they allow students to convincingly substitute the work of a machine for their own intellectual work. He stated it could be useful in certain classroom settings but that it must be "narrowly tailored."
Professor Adam Belz, who teaches journalism, said that it can be harmful if used out of laziness to escape critical thinking. However, he said it can be beneficial when organizing thoughts or quickly analyzing a text.
Some students take a more nuanced mindset with AI. In their eyes, it can be a useful tool. “I think it’s pretty helpful when studying,” said junior Patton Hickman.
Senior Reghan Black explained that AI is helpful in giving a general direction to go in for a project and resources to use for research. AI has proved to be a useful tool for design mockup in her graphic design class. For example, they did a packaging project and were able to use AI to see what their design would look like printed on a box.
Belz supported the point that AI is helpful in certain subjects but not others. He said that if students use AI to generate their articles verbatim, “What’s the point of taking the class? You might as well take a nap.”
Hickman agreed here. “I think there is no need for it in English, for example. It makes things pretty dry,” he said.
He explained a time when he was accused of using AI to generate a paper that he had written himself. His English professor had used an AI detection technology that was clearly not accurate. He said this happened to several of his classmates as well.
Senior David Netherton explained a similar occurrence that happened to his sister. She wrote an assignment that got flagged as being AI generated. This false identification can ultimately be harmful for relationships between students and teachers.
Several professors at Covenant are known to use this technology, and students are becoming increasingly aware of its inaccuracy. Bunn tested the technology by running his own written work through the machine and got a score indicating that AI was likely used. He knew he should not use it after this test.
“I would not want to make a false accusation on the basis of insufficient data,” he said, “and I also would not want to give myself the false illusion of certainty that something is not AI generated on the basis of a score from these checkers.”
Belz, unlike some professors, is not overly fazed about AI. He said that AI is going to be a part of everyone’s lives now, so it is something that people need to learn how to use in positive ways.
“I do generally trust students to follow my policies about AI,” he said, “It doesn’t seem like anyone is using it this semester, and I don’t want to be a detective about it either.”
A student using AI to escape work reveals a deeper problem than the existence of AI, he explained. Other students expressed similar thoughts, wondering what the consistent use of AI will do to a person.
Junior Adelle Stumbo expressed her concern for the future of our society with the use of AI looming over our heads. She said that colleges will produce students who cannot listen or have intellectual discussions and who only want to find correct answers quickly.
“AI makes it easier for people to take shortcuts,” she said, “and I think that schools can’t necessarily eradicate the use of AI because it’s only growing but also schools should be more committed to the types of students they are producing, rather than just the students’ ability to find an answer.”
Junior Lydia Osborne said that she would appreciate it if her professors, instead of avoiding AI like the plague, would instead teach the students how to use it in a way that is constructive to the student’s learning. “I have heard AI can be a great tool for academia,” she said, “but I have no idea how to use it because professors will not allow it.”
Thumbnail photo taken by Madison Bowden and Olivia Stefl.