A new era of learning: How AI is shaping back-to-school at UP universities

UPPER MICHIGAN, Mich. (WLUC) - Educators across the U.P. are figuring out the role artificial intelligence (AI) will play in the classroom.

Michigan Tech Director for the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning Jeff Toorongian says MTU is allowing instructors to choose how they address AI in the classroom on an individual basis.

“At this point, policies related to AI are very much an instructor-level choice and decision because what we’ve been hearing and seeing is different,” Toorongian said. “Instructors are all over the map in terms of how they’re using AI or not using AI in their class in terms of their assessments.”

Meanwhile, Northern Michigan University has taken a collaborative approach. The university has put the Center for Teaching and Learning in charge of an AI steering group. Instructional Technologist Scott Smith says it will consist of faculty and students.

“We will be crafting syllabus statements for instructors to use,” Smith said. “We will also be basically trying to come up with best practices, policy suggestions, and one of the things we’re really trying to do this semester coming up here in the fall is we’re going to start AI literacy programs for students, faculty and staff.”

NMU Philosophy Professor Antony Aumann says AI programs like Chat GPT are nearly impossible to detect with software. Despite this, he says it has not led to the level of academic dishonesty some have thought.

“My experience last semester has made me a lot less freaked out,” Aumann said. “I did what I called the ‘Wild Wild West’ approach. The students could use chat GPT in generative AI as much as they wanted, and I told them how to use it well. What percentage of them actually did use it? Only about 20% of my students. I have over 100 students.”

All three of them say whether people like it or not, AI will be used in nearly every occupation going into the future.