Human Connections in a Digital World

Students are conscious of the harmful effects AI has on learning, the environment, and society. Requiring them to use AI for an assignment, while well-intentioned, sends the message that AI is inevitable. By prioritizing critical thinking and student autonomy, giving students direct instruction on the variety of uses, types, and effects of AI and providing alternative assignments dispels this myth. Students should be encouraged to engage critically in how AI is shaping society, and instructors should cultivate a human-centered classroom culture of curiosity instead of compliance. While it’s increasingly harder to opt-out of AI, and not all AI is equally harmful, students who choose to resist AI should have opportunities to share and practice their views. Regardless of whether AI inevitability is true or not, this talk will pose important questions for students to consider when confronted with AI that encourage them to imagine a more equitable and sustainable future.