LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Artificial intelligence is no longer the future. It’s already here, and on college campuses like Texas Tech, it’s already making a big impact.
“In a general sense, AI is changing just about everything we know about teaching and learning, it is a really big force,” said Suzanne Tapp, associate vice provost for teaching and learning.
AI use across campuses
Tapp said AI is used on school campuses across the country. She said AI can be a powerful tool, helping students brainstorm ideas, break down complex topics and even improve writing. But with these benefits also comes concerns.
“So if a student, whether they are feeling anxious, pressured or whatever their reason is, may go to AI and take the content without evaluating it and misrepresent that content as their own, that’s a problem, and that’s really inhibiting their ability to learn,” Tapp said.
Despite the risk, Tapp said when used with integrity, AI has the potential to make learning more accessible and efficient.
“On the other hand, if a student uses AI as a collaborative tool, maybe that means they use it to refine their work and use it for brainstorming purposes, they use it thoughtfully, and ethically, that can enhance their learning, so it really depends on motivation and intent there,” Tapp said.
Faculty set classroom policies
When it comes to AI use in the classroom, Tapp said there’s no one size fits all approach.
“Faculty have agency with the policies they set for AI, again based on their goals for their classes, so in some classes faculty might say no AI, in some classes they might say, let’s use AI in this circumstances for this assignment, and in some classes they might say free for all, lets use AI, lets gain come critical literacy with this tool, let’s think about ethical decision making with AI,” Tapp said.
Navigating use of AI
She said the university is working to support faculty offering training and resources to help them adapt to the fast-changing technology.
“That is the million dollar question right now, AI is evolving so quickly, that I don’t know what will happen in the next five years,” Tapp said. “Texas Tech does have an AI working group that brings together, staff, faculty and students to think about that very thing, how is AI influencing research, how is it influencing teaching and learning, how is it influencing operations, so more to come.”
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