Can College Students Use AI Ethically?

Why Do Students Still Need to Write Papers and Take Tests?

The purpose of assessment, pedagogically, is to evaluate and guide student learning, monitor educational outcomes, and inform or refine teaching strategies. This is why students write papers and take tests, right? We need data that reflects their learning, progress, and informs course design. Without this, essential pieces of the educational environment would be missing.

With advanced technology available, students often wonder why they still need to write papers and take tests themselves when AI can accomplish tasks faster and more efficiently.

Our courses and teaching really need to make it clear that what we’re asking from students differs fundamentally from what AI can do. However, we also need to create space for AI where it improves accessibility and assists with tasks that aren’t central to learning or course outcomes.

Example: Undergrad Poetry Class

Let’s consider an imperfect but useful example for discussion: Students are assigned to find playful local news stories in the current week’s newspaper and write a haiku about cats inspired by one of those stories.

Bear with me for this example. The ethical use of AI here could involve using AI to sort through and summarize local news stories. For example, I often ask AI to tag stories with keywords. Students could use AI to find some finalists for the “playful” story requirement.

After narrowing it down to a few finalists, students might ask AI for clarification, like how a particular story could be considered playful. This use of AI improves universal accessibility. For example, students with alexithymia (like me) might struggle to identify emotions and could benefit from AI support in choosing a “playful” story.

At this point, the student has used AI to narrow down and confirm their choice of a playful local news story. They’ve thought critically and made decisions about what is playful in their local context. For our illustration, we’ll say that they found a story about a local crossing guard dressed in a costume on the first day of school.

Great! In my opinion, so far, the student has been doing their own work and remains actively involved in the learning process. They put in time and thought in order to find a local news story that they felt was a playful one and, with the supports offered by AI, they found it.

Cool. Now here is the very important turning point. This is a poetry class, and this exercise involves writing a haiku about cats inspired by that playful local news story.

That’s Your Part: You, Dear Student, Need to Write the Poem.

But check this out. Not only is it the ethical thing to do, it is also what makes poetry better. It’s not the hard part that you have to do on your own. It’s the best part. You are the best part.

Students Writing With AI

I don’t think students are left on their own once they start writing. Ethical AI use continues when they begin their own work. For example, they might ask AI to explain what a haiku is, learning that it’s defined by the syllables per line.

Then, they can ask AI for more about the haiku, so they learn about how a haiku reflects a single moment of realization. Students can even ask AI to organize their own class notes, helping them sift through those to get the haiku instruction.

But when it comes time to write, you, dear student, must write the haiku about cats inspired by the playful crossing guard. And trust me—your poem will always be better than the AI-generated version.

Also, an AI-generated poem isn’t your work. That’s academic dishonesty. Keep your integrity. Use AI as a support tool, but make sure that your work comes from you.

Closing Reflection

I’m not sure my students fully appreciate that their own work results in a better poem. In my experience, many students are eager to use AI for every assignment, across all subjects, and feel frustrated when it’s restricted.

They feel like they’re being forced to do things ‘the hard way’ when, outside the classroom, they’d use this technology without hesitation—and they resent it when it’s disallowed.

My hope is twofold. First, at the institutional level, I hope we allow the kind of AI usage I’ve described here. AI offers some unprecedented accessibility benefits, especially supporting students with disabilities. This policy change should happen for this reason.

Second, I want students to recognize that the poem they write is the better poem. And they need to realize that assessment in college is about guiding their learning. If we accept, hypothetically, just for a moment, that education matters at all, do you want to learn to write poetry? Then you need to write the poem, and you need to get feedback. That process—the back and forth—is what education is about.

When students can use AI ethically, their work remains their own, course accessibility improves, and students no longer feel restricted. We might also better recognize that we’re all on the same team.

– Erika Sanborne, AutisticPhD.com

Want to discuss this topic? Or do you have a haiku about cats inspired by a playful crossing guard in costume? There is a thread about it on the facebook page.