Starting this school year, those who teach required social science classes for undergraduates are being asked to make their classrooms device-free and to insist that students do their outside work without the assistance of AI. What about the counterargument that this approach could put students behind in an AI-focused world?
Our students are going into careers where they’ll have to be able to supervise AI. They have to be fluent in how to use it. But when we talk to alums — say, in finance and banking, where AI is really being integrated — often they say, “Send me your history majors. Send me the students who’ve had to think broadly and deeply about subjects and have that sort of maturity in their thought process. We need them to be discerning about the output from AI.” We think they need to learn how to think.
How heavily will this be enforced?
Faculty autonomy and creativity in the classroom is really important to us. So by it being guidance [rather than policy], they can make exceptions. Because the focus in social sciences is on reading primary texts, faculty want to see students present in the classroom, to be in the discussion and grappling with these ideas. AI is one issue, but technology in general in the classroom is also a big issue. I’ve heard from students: “Gosh, my class last year took out technology, said no AI, and it was great. It was so nice to have at least 50 minutes without the constant phones and input.”
You’ve been in academia for a long time and have seen a lot of changes. Where does AI rank in terms of affecting how students learn?
That’s a tricky question. It’s a phenomenal tool, and we can do a lot with it. But you asked about learning, and I think in a way it’s pushed us in an almost contrary way. Technology was a problem in the classroom before AI. But AI maybe was a tipping point for thinking: Hold on, how are we running these classes? How are students learning? And can we do better? A lot of us who have been in our fields for a while think we can use AI effectively because we have all that experience to know when something doesn’t feel right. Our students are having to figure out those skills very quickly, and we want to help them do that.
Mark Bazer is a freelance writer for Chicago magazine.
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