SU Professors Response to A.I. in Classrooms

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (CITRUSTV NEWS) — It’s been three years since generative artificial intelligence, or A.I. for short, took college campuses across the country by storm. Chat GPT, Claude, Microsoft CoPilot, and a plethora of other platforms give students unprecedented access to a streamlined way of getting work done. 

Dympna Callaghan, a Syracuse University professor in the Department of English and Textual Studies, knows that A.I. is here to stay at colleges. 

“We must proceed with caution but that we can’t just stick our heads in the sand and say it never happened,” Callaghan said. 

Callaghan has been teaching at SU since the late 1980s, and has begun giving more traditional in person exams and handwritten assignments for one key reason. 

“If people are allowed to have their computer in front of them the entire time there’s the potential to rely on A.I. instead of your own wits,” Callaghan said. 

Callaghan mentioned that she doesn’t believe in completely ignoring A.I., as many students will need to understand it for their jobs after graduation. 

“I think it would be dangerous also to completely ban ai because we can’t turn the clock back,” Callaghan said. 

Robert Wilson, a professor in Syracuse University’s Department of Geography and the Environment, agrees with Callaghan’s philosophy of allowing students to use A.I. while also maintaining caution. 

“Everyone is facing in these more humanities oriented disciplines,” Wilson said. “With just a little bit of knowledge you can get them to write any paper that you want.”

Callaghan and Wilson both emphasized that their “proceed with caution” method with A.I. isn’t just about preventing cheating. They both want students to take key skills away for their classes. 

“We still got to make sure we do what these students have paid their tuition for,” Callaghan said. “Which is to teach them critical thinking writing skills high level reading skills.”

Reporter: Jude Bazerman