Before I started this essay, I struggled to find resources to support the claim that AI can be used in good faith. Articles are riddled with Pros and Cons of constantly consuming AI tools, leaving me a tad burned out. I decided to try to clear my head and finished a reading assignment I had for another course. By the time I finished reading the scholarly article I realized that I didn’t understand a single thing I had just consumed. “Autonomy of Affect” by Brian Massumi was an interesting, yet jarring, scholarly article where Massumi claims that emotions are the result of a subtractive process. To my defense, my professor warned us that this reading was a “challenging read,” so I gave it a shot and was surprised when I struggled to understand Massumi’s advanced writing style.
This realization brought me back to this essay. I quickly opened up ChatGPT and asked it to explain “Autonomy of Affect” by Brian Massumi in simpler terms. ChatGPT gave me a short, yet brief, summary of Massumi’s article and it actually helped me understand the material better. I was a bit skeptical to trust this AI tool, but it was successful in helping me comprehend the material that I spent 30 minutes attempting to analyze. AI is a revolutionary tool, but it should not be abused regularly if another solution can be reached. If we, as individuals, choose to use AI tools, we should use them responsibly by ensuring we do not cross into plagiaristic territory.
Being a student is not the easiest task. We spend a lot of time analyzing complex articles and other works in order to show how we understand and interpret the material. But, sometimes even the broadest of scholarly articles can cause a drift in understanding between professors and students. While conducting my research, I found a number of articles to support that students do, in fact, use AI tools with good intentions. “How are college students using AI tools like ChatGPT?” (Teagan Davidge) asked nine California colleges and universities: “Have you or someone you know used ChatGPT or another AI tool to complete a college assignment? Can you share what the assignment was, and if using AI was approved by your professor.” One student mentioned that he was a premium ChatGPT subscriber and further stated that he “finds it most helpful for summarizing readings.” (Davidge 2024). Another student claimed they used AI for an outline that they were having difficulty with. Many of these students believed that their institutions and professors should implement more assignments that are AI-friendly while others were unsure how they felt about AI in academia.
The use of AI tools by students is almost unavoidable. Whether a student chooses to use AI to understand a math concept better or to plagiarize a response paper is ultimately up to the user in question. Universities are cracking down on students who openly use AI technologies to cheat, but they are also trying to adapt to the fact that these technologies may become more advanced and widely available for all kinds of purposes. “Students Speak: How We Use Artificial Intelligence” (EdTech Staff) follows two undergraduate students (Louisiana State University and University of North Carolina Greensboro) who shared their experiences with AI after its sudden popularity within the last year. For example, LSU has already integrated AI-generated instruction and learning for students, including an AI-powered tutoring system that can assist students with a variety of subjects. Students have reported that the system is helpful and effective as the AI tool is structured to help students with their specific needs. In 2020, UNC Greensboro launched an AI chatbot named Minnie. The chatbot is a quick and easy way to help students who may struggle with finding resources on campus. It has caused a decrease in emails and calls, and has left students and university workers feeling supported and uplifted.
ChatGPT may remain a useful tool for students and professors alike, especially those who find it beneficial to summarize documents, check grammar, create a draft, brainstorm ideas, conduct research and so much more. Institutions are becoming more flexible and cautious to the idea of AI within the classroom and with assignments. As we have previously discussed, AI tools can be useful, but we must learn how to properly use the resources that are available to us with good faith in mind. Students and professors are not well-equipped to understand AI tools; but they can be. Encouraging students to use AI responsibly can be more rewarding than punishing them for a tool that may have assisted them in the past. The creation and use of AI training for both faculty and students on the effectiveness of AI tools could help both parties enhance their AI literacy without fear of being ridiculed for using an easily accessible platform. AI tools may become more advanced and could aid educators as they teach the next generation of students. We cannot be sure that all users exploit AI in bad faith. There will be those who use artificial intelligence in good faith or bad faith, and as scholars who are working to adapt to these technologies, we have to acknowledge that fact. “Refusing GenAI in Writing Studies: A Quickstart Guide” by Jennifer Sano-Franchini, et. al describes it best, “Ultimately most metaphors we apply to our understanding of this new technology are limited—both helpful and potentially dangerous—in informing our understanding as we risk both underestimating and overestimating the constructive and destructive potential of this technology as well as the ethical dimensions of its use” (Sano-Franchini, et. al.; Anderson 2). AI is an advanced tool that can also give us misleading information and can put many in compromising situations. Artificial intelligence has a diverse purpose and can be used in just as many beneficial ways as harmful; it is, however, up to the user to decide how they will choose to use AI tools in the future. It is safer to conduct more research than to rely solely on one source.