How does artificial intelligence change learning?

Since the “Chat GPT” was developed in November 2022, this invention has profoundly impacted the field of education. Students have enjoying, while teachers have scratched their heads, as artificial intelligence fundamentally alters the perception of learning. Whether viewed as the best plagiarism tool, a threat to humanity, or the finest invention of the 21st century, AI has received various evaluations. Following the initial wave of astonishment and approaching the scientific-practical student conference on AI organized by Vilnius Business College, we sought the opinions of our students and teachers on AI: its usage, purposes, challenges, and its implications.

Kristijonas Jankūnas, a first-year logistics business student

“I try not to use AI because I want to use my own mind. I’m skeptical about AI because it makes everything too easy, requiring no effort from the individual. However, I believe it will be necessary in the future. If AI is used for design, logos, it’s a useful tool, but I don’t use it for generating texts. If I need to find information, search for concepts, etc., Google is better suited for that. It’s better to search, read more, and study independently. I see greater benefits in that.”

Ernestas Jancevič, a first-year student in business management and marketing under the “Team academy” method

“AI evokes mixed feelings: I’m glad it exists because it greatly facilitates the completion of tasks related to studies, but it also worries me because as AI improves, we humans become less independent. I personally use AI extensively, especially for lectures related to projects. It’s my assistant when I lack ideas or don’t know which slide to insert, etc.

I believe it’s not necessary to simply copy everything provided by this tool. It’s important to do things according to oneself.

If I’m pressed for time and know I can complete a task using AI, it depends on my motivation and the lecture itself, whether I’ll heavily rely on AI.

And if AI were to disappear, I wouldn’t have any difficulties because this tool emerged recently, and until then, I did everything myself. I would just need to spend more time thinking.”

Victor Eso Orok, a first-year student in business management and marketing

“I think AI is a good tool, but not one hundred percent. I mostly use it to clarify certain words, making it easier and quicker to understand the text I’m reading. If I need to use those words in a written text, I replace them with my own. If it doesn’t work, then I resort to AI assistance. By the way, if there’s someone nearby I can ask, I always prefer human assistance.

Sometimes, when I think about AI, I become anxious because I fear becoming dependent on this tool, unable to find necessary information without it. If AI replaces humans, then it would be truly frightening. That’s why the usefulness of AI is ambiguous.”

Irena Seniut, head of the Foreign Languages Department

“Students certainly use AI, but when studying languages and learning to write, AI hinders rather than helps. First, you need to know what constitutes a good text, written in English or any other language, what its characteristics are. Only then can you use AI because it’s capable of finding phrases, sentences, etc., that need to be corrected in your or the AI-generated text.

During lectures, we conduct an experiment: students and AI complete the same task, and then we compare and analyze the texts. Students quickly notice differences, recognize the AI-written text, and understand that it’s artificial. Often, they realize they write more clearly, beautifully, and interestingly.

For someone who writes well, AI is a good assistant because it helps save time, improve routine tasks, etc. Studying, it’s useful for comparing, analyzing, seeking criticism. However, it’s important to be careful and verify the facts provided by this tool because it creates non-existent references, authors, articles, etc. In such cases, it’s quicker and easier to find information independently.

Using AI depends on the ability to formulate proper queries, which not all students are good at.

As a teacher, my biggest challenge is assessment because I want to evaluate a student’s personal ability, not the contribution of AI.”

Ignotas Mendelis, a first-year student in business management and marketing under the “Team academy” method

“I use AI almost every day for various activities: studies, work, daily life. AI is a source of ideas for me. Later, I use the chosen idea according to myself and do the rest of the work myself.

I think it all depends on how we use AI. If we take everything AI provides us directly without thinking and continue to think for ourselves, I don’t think that’s a bad thing or that it could be harmful.”

Dr. Violeta Jadzgevičienė, head of the IT Department, comments

“Students in the IT field extensively use AI, and it all depends on the student. It’s a good tool if you don’t know how to solve a particular task, and AI offers various options. If the student critically evaluates the information provided by AI, searches for sources supporting this information, then that’s great. Of course, as a teacher, sometimes when I look at the result a student provides using AI, I’m slightly disappointed because I see not the student’s but AI’s contribution. Then my biggest challenge arises – how to assess? Another challenge is plagiarism and authorship because a student submits work as their own, although they completed it using AI.

I think in the future, automatic knowledge assessment using tests will disappear. We’ll need a conversation with the student for them to explain their work, to prove they understand.

So I can’t say AI is harmful. You just need to get used to it. It’s also important to understand that AI generates a response based on available information. It doesn’t say “I don’t know.” If it doesn’t know the answer, it creates it from what it has. And that’s not necessarily the correct answer. So AI as a tool isn’t perfect.”

The scientific-practical student conference “Integration of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities” will take place on May 30th from 10 am to 3 pm at Saltoniškių 2. Participation in the conference is also possible remotely.

More information –  https://www.kolegija.lt/en/conference/