Rather than banning the technology or ignoring it, educators are reworking their courses to treat AI as a tool students must learn to use, while also questioning and critiquing it.<\/p>\n
A balancing act<\/p>\n
At the University of New Brunswick, Stijn De Baerdemacker is walking a careful line between embracing AI and protecting the kind of thinking his students need to master complex subjects like quantum chemistry and theoretical chemistry.<\/p>\n
De Baerdemacker is the Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Chemistry and the associate scientific director at UNB\u2019s Research Institute in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.<\/p>\n
He said his approach with artificial intelligence varies depending on the level of the students. <\/p>\n
For those at the entry level that are still learning foundational concepts and unfamiliar terminology, he has taken steps to limit AI use in evaluations.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything has moved now into in-person evaluation, and [I have] introduced oral examinations there,\u201d De Baerdemacker said.\u00a0 \u201cYou can better gauge where students are, what their level of understanding is.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1777729509_994_default.jpg\")
Stijn De Baerdemacker with the University of New Brunswick says he uses AI tools on a daily basis and believes educators need to be familiar enough with them to recognize when students’ work has been shaped or sloppily produced by artificial intelligence. (University of New Brunswick)<\/p>\n
At this stage, he said, students need time to train their minds by working through difficult concepts themselves, rather than outsourcing too much thinking to a machine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I do find from feedback from students is that they do appreciate the opportunity to be able to really show what they’ve learned during an oral examination,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In advanced courses, where students already have a strong foundation, it’s a different story. <\/p>\n
For those students, De Baerdemacker encourages the use of AI tools such as Claude, Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT.<\/p>\n
Those courses involve heavy math and coding, and AI can help students get past some of the technical hurdles so they can focus more on the science itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019m mostly interested in what they can get using those tools, or the understanding that they gain from those tools,\u201d De Baerdemacker said.<\/p>\n
Risks of overreliance<\/p>\n
Both Stewart and De Baerdemacker say AI has clear benefits in education \u2014 but also real risks if it’s overused.<\/p>\n
\u201cOveruse of AI can really stunt your ability to make arguments, to think critically,\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I’m engaged with students, helping them to realize where that line is and also designing assessments and designing test plans that encourage students to use their own critical thinking is key.\u201d<\/p>\n
De Baerdemacker said he can often spot when AI has done too much of the work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWordiness, not getting to the point, going on a tangent, taking a weird direction somewhere,\u201d he said, are all signals of sloppy AI use in writing.<\/p>\n
In coding assignments, he sometimes sees beautifully structured software programs that simply don\u2019t answer the question that’s asked.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why, he said, educators themselves need to become familiar with AI. They can learn more about the latest developments in artificial intelligence and the future of work at the 2026 Atlantic AI Summit on the UNB Fredericton campus in June.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who use it more recognize it better,\u201d De Baerdemacker said.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Winnipeg students tap AI in the classroom:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768400709_871_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
See how these students put AI to use at school<\/p>\n
If you ask children about artificial intelligence, they’ve probably heard of it, used it and might already have opinions about it. But how is it being used in the classroom? CBC visited one Winnipeg school to find out.\t<\/p>\n
He noted that more advanced students tend to avoid the risks. <\/p>\n
Many of the upper-level courses he teaches are electives, which attract students who are motivated and genuinely interested in the subject.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody’s going to go and choose quantum chemistry because they think they’re going to get an easy grade out of it,\u201d De Baerdemacker said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cChoosing the shortest path towards success, or the path of least effort is a bit mitigated by the motivation of the students. I really see them using it as a tool, rather than actually the means in itself to get a good answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Take the good pieces’<\/p>\n
Concerns about AI affecting jobs are understandable, De Baerdemacker said, but not new.<\/p>\n
Like past technologies \u2014 from calculators to computers \u2014 AI is more likely to reshape work than eliminate it entirely.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few jobs will probably not be as in demand as they used to be, typically those where you can automate a lot of stuff,” he said. <\/p>\n
De Baerdemacker believes the bigger risk is falling behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo paraphrase a colleague that I have, you’re not going to lose your job to AI. You’re going to lose your job to a person who is fluent in AI.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770403335_658_default.jpg\")
Integrating AI into the classroom is something universities need to seriously consider because the technology is here to stay and educators can’t afford to ignore it if they want to serve future students well, De Baerdemacker says. (Jeremy Eaton\/CBC)<\/p>\n
At Holland College, Stewart sees potential for AI across a wide range of programs. In culinary training, for example, it can be used to automate recipe scaling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s a lot of use for AI that people don’t consider, like tracking temperatures in refrigerators or working on supply line problems or optimization,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The bottom line, De Baerdemacker said, is that AI is a powerful new technology that universities can’t afford to ignore.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tool, and it\u2019s there, and it\u2019s going to stay there. It helps make a difference in certain aspects. It helps remove barriers,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe would not be doing our students, the next generation, a service by removing it altogether.\u2026 We need to welcome it and see what\u2019s good and identify what\u2019s wrong, and take the good pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This fall, some students at Holland College in Prince Edward Island will see artificial intelligence woven into nearly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,276,277,49,48,61],"class_list":["post-643103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}