By Carson Lafferty, Opinion Editor
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a topic of much debate in the academic community since its emergence and mass use. Some individuals see AI as a useful tool that should be fully embraced while others believe AI is entirely ruining the integrity of academia.
There are multiple forms of AI available to the public, but the form of AI causing uproar are Large Language Models (LLM). AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, and many others are LLMs that are trained on a vast amount of data with the goal of understanding and generating human-like text. After training on and processing billions, if not trillions, of words, LLMs use an algorithm to use statistical predictions to create understandable responses to queries. Despite their extensive training, LLMs are not perfect. They can generate incorrect information and have been known to create biased responses. These flaws are due to the data the models were trained on.
While AI is not perfect and many people are adamantly against its usage, a complete ban on AI is not a practical solution. AI is here to stay.
The goal of a college education is to prepare students for the workforce. Blatantly ignoring AI and outlawing it in the classroom is a severe disservice to students. The majority of the modern workforce is embracing AI as a tool, not a menace. It is being used for everything from customer service, content creation, data analysis, and everything in between. By not allowing students to use AI, Aquinas students are losing out on critical skills and will enter the workforce with a severe disadvantage because they have not been adequately trained on how to use LLMs.
AI can also be used to help with studying. AI is a tutor that will never get tired answering questions. It can simplify, personalize, and differentiate texts and information repeatedly until the user is satisfied with their understanding. AI can generate practice problems or create mock quizzes as a form of studying. Using AI as a supplemental educational tool enhances learning rather than destroying academia.
Students also need to be taught the ethical challenges of AI. Instead of generating content, copying and pasting it, and claiming it as their own in their future job which could get them in trouble, professors can teach students how to use AI ethically and responsibly. College should prepare students for all aspects of their future careers. This means adapting courses to better educate students for the future.
The calculator replaced the abacus. Email replaced faxing. Laptops replaced typewriters. Streaming replaced DVDs. The Internet replaced physical encyclopedias. The world is constantly changing with new technology. We as a society have embraced these new technologies. So why would we not embrace this newest form of revolutionary technology?
ChatGPT logo – Found on Google
AI image – Found on Google.
The Saint 