Photo by Markus Haugh
By Owen Jones
Artificial Intelligence is impacting our lives now more than ever, especially for students. As AI tools have only grown in prominence in the past year, questions are arising from students about the technology, how and when it should be used, and its future impact.
Many students already use AI for help with a variety of tasks at school, like proofreading papers, generating ideas, and other assistance with their assignments. A survey conducted of 16 William Peace University students found that 81.3% of students had used AI for schoolwork.
Uses like this, however, have given rise to debate over whether and when it is acceptable to use AI for schoolwork.
Ian Stoops, a junior and simulation and game design major at Peace, believes there are times when it makes sense to use AI for school work.
“I do believe there are times where it is acceptable to use AI, such as teacher instruction and using it for things like grammar adjustment,” Stoops said.
Stoops also said that he believed AI had more unacceptable uses for school than it does acceptable ones.
“There are definitely more times than not, to not use AI, such as generative AI, to completely do an assignment for you… which you are turning in,” Stoops said.
Mainstream platforms for AI, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, are probably some of the forms of AI that most students are familiar with. People can use them for all sorts of things, from answering questions to helping you with tasks.
OpenAI itself conducted a study on how ChatGPT was being used that debuted on Sept. 15 of last year, in which they said that “three-quarters of conversations focus on practical guidance, seeking information, and writing.”
However, AI use is expanding beyond school and personal use, as many careers have begun to incorporate it into jobs.
The potential impact AI could have on jobs has led many students to consider how this new technology could impact their careers of choice once they graduate.
Jonathan Corwin, a sophomore and a business administration major at NC State, said he anticipates AI will impact his future career.
“I’ll be working with numbers a lot, and probably a lot of spreadsheets, so I’m sure that’ll make it a lot easier when I get there,” Corwin said.
Studies from the NC Department of Commerce in February 2024 predicted that legal, business, and financial operations, and computer and mathematical as the top three jobs most likely to be exposed to AI.
With these jobs likely to be impacted by AI in the near future, many students have been increasingly concerned by the integration of the technology into jobs, worrying that it could lead to people being replaced by AI programs.
The same survey at Peace showed that 37.5% of the students were maybe concerned by AI impacts on careers in their major, while 37.5% said that they were concerned.
Concerns go further than just job security as well, with worries extending to things like credibility and reliability of using AI. Brodey Price, a simulation and game design and writing major at Peace, had this to say about his concerns surrounding AI being used in careers relating to his major.
“Using AI in games and writing concerns me because it will lower the credibility of the industry as a whole, which affects me even though I am not properly in the industry yet,” Price said.
AI continues to shape our world in lots of different ways, and while some may be good and some may be bad, one thing is undeniable: AI is here to stay for the foreseeable future.