The University of Northern Colorado has established its own generative AI policy, but the university also allows its professors to implement their own policies. In the Monfort College of Business, students need to decide when they should be using AI.
“My major is going to consist of a lot of AI use, that is what it’s going to be. I think encouraging it in healthy ways is definitely good. I do think they should lead by example by using it in healthy ways,” said Hannah Bonjour, a senior business administration major with a concentration in computer information systems.
As AI continues to assimilate itself into the mainstream, students understand that it will not be going away. There have been many discussions about whether AI should be used in the classroom at all, how much students should use it and if instructors should use it.
“I agree with it just because the AI, like, it is supposed to be a tool, and that’s what it was made to be," said Kaylee Zepeda, a junior who is a double business major with concentrations in finance and management. "And I do like how they’re trying to differentiate us, leaning towards it, like kind of full-on support, but learning how to work with it instead."
The business college has 11 different concentrations, which cast a wide net for AI usage. The professors of the concentrations that involve numbers and math do not encourage the use of AI, because it's not refined enough to be entirely reliable yet. Despite this, AI still has practical use in accounting.
“The thing was, AI will help you get through the boring bits. You know, it can put in information, it can like double check that your numbers are right,” said Erin Triplett, a senior who is a business administration major with concentrations in accounting and finance.
This has been the general pro-AI argument. It should sift through the menial tasks while the human does the hard work. This is a hard line to draw, because who determines what is menial and what isn’t?
However, Bonjour said she cannot completely rely on the answers AI provides, especially when it comes to numbers. She said that it can provide correct formulas, but the calculations are completely incorrect.
“It’s almost been more of a detriment than a help,” said Christine McClatchey, professor of finance at UNC.
She said when a student plugs a problem into an AI search engine, it will pull information from unrelated chapters of the textbook. The AI response will walk students through an incorrect process to help solve the problem.
McClatchey said AI is affecting students inside the classroom, too.
“I found that, you know, go 10 years back, I could spend a whole class period the day before an exam, answering questions on homework problems," McClatchey said. "And I literally, I think, honestly, in one of my classes, I've been asked about one homework problem. And we’re in what? Week nine?”
So, if a student is relying on AI, they are going through the wrong process for the homework and are not clarifying their answers in the classroom.
AI can be used in a variety of ways, especially in school. Students are learning to navigate when and where to use it, in and outside of the classroom. Using AI in classrooms makes work more efficient, but does it benefit the education?
The Magic of Light and Sound: How UNC’s Theater Design Specialists Elevate the Medium
Generative AI: Tool or Crutch?
