By Brinda Patel
Correspondent
The integration of artificial intelligence in higher education is evolving at a rapid pace, presenting an array of opportunities. It can personalize and deliver content in milliseconds that resonates with each individual user. At the College of New Jersey, it is raising questions about academic integrity and accountability for students and faculty.
In 2022, AI tools like the Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer became more prevalent within classrooms ranging from middle school to college as an alternative way to break down complex academic material. ChatGPT can generate anything from bullet points to essays that can be translated into any language.
In an email to the College on Oct. 2, Vice President for Operations Sharon Blanton announced that students and faculty were granted secure access to Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Google NotebookLM. She stated in the email that “students should be mindful of course policies and instructor expectations” when using any AI tools, and students must adhere to the College’s academic integrity guidelines and Information Security Policy.
Students’ use of AI varies, according to Raquel Sosa, a psychology professor. Sosa has been learning more about AI through professional development at events at the College.
“AI has both some benefits to student learning as well as downsides,” Sosa said. “I think it would be helpful for students to understand how to evaluate an output from AI in an ethical manner and for them to understand the ethical implications of using it.”
Noelle Zavaterri, a senior psychology major, shared an opposing view on AI’s impact.
Zavaterri is the publicist for the Order of the Nose-Biting Teacups, a “Harry Potter” fan club at the College. She utilizes AI to plan content for meetings ahead of time, and understands that conversational technology will be integrated in her future career as a therapist to a certain extent.
“I do believe students have become too reliant on AI,” says Zavaterri. “Instead of an academic tool for progress, it has become something people use for cheating. It encourages not using our brains to the fullest which will have a negative impact over time.”
The World Economic Forum found in a 2023 Walton Family Foundation survey, 71% of teachers and 65% of students mutually agreed that AI will be essential for student’s success in both college and in the workplace. The organization says that the next five years are critical in shaping the transformation of AI tools becoming essential to students’ success in college and in the workplace. It also addresses teachers’ burnouts and workload stress by using neural network knowledge tracking to provide students data-driven feedback while they deliver their lessons.
Abby Smith, a junior management major, also noticed a growing reliance on AI in the classroom. Smith uses ChatGPT to comprehend complex lessons by generating easy-to-read flashcards and links to YouTube videos that can help explain certain topics further than her textbook. However, she said that it has also become a “blessing and a curse” to use.
“The disadvantage with this is now I feel like I can’t study without loading all my notes into ChatGPT,” said Smith. “I feel like my attention span and patience are so little that I would rather just have the tool to do all the work and study off of that. AI is making people lazier and more dependent on technology.”
Management professor Mark Tarallo said that AI use depends on how students decide to utilize it. It becomes a hindrance and leads to over-reliance when students ask AI to address a simple prompt about an article in order to complete their homework assignments.
“Businesses value employees who can roll up their sleeves and solve complex issues. More than that, they want employees who can do that within a highly-functioning team of coworkers,” Tarallo said. “AI can't do either of those.”
On the College’s Violations of Academic Integrity webpage, a 2024 note was made, stating that AI can be used responsibly “to spell and grammar check, suggest brainstorming notes for a paper topic, and generate study guides.” However, academic work becomes a “violation” when papers have been generated by AI instead of students writing their papers on their own. Professors are now including sections about AI and its acceptable uses in their syllabuses.
The College’s Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning lists additional resources on their Artificial Intelligence page about the current state and the future of AI to help professors look out for it within the classroom.
