Student voices

"I'm careful because I'm very paranoid about citations and things like that.... I think everybody has a different interpretation of how they use it or how they want us to use it, but mine has just been to strengthen my own writing or voice."
—Graduate student, IU Indianapolis

"It can help with understanding and drafting of school materials for a specific assignment for classes. If you need help with an essay or if you need help with a math problem, it has the ability to help you with those things outside of class hours.... I've used it sort of like if I have an essay and I need help figuring out how I want to organize my ideas. I'll do the research on which points I want to make and things like that. And it just helps organize things."
—Undergraduate student, IU Indianapolis

"I have used it to assist in brainstorming, spellchecking, grammar, tutoring and various knowledge checks."
—Graduate student, IU Southeast

"Generative AI uses a bank of original work to pick and choose pieces of the original works to make a specific work for the reader. I have not used it as I believe that AI is a cheap workaround for using your own brain."
—Undergraduate student, IU Southeast

"Generative AI uses machine learning and large language models to cobble together requested data. This can include text, sound, images, that are essentially Frankensteined together.... Most (if not all) generative AI is trained on stolen content and is easily manipulated into 'hallucinating' or otherwise misinforming people."
—Undergraduate student, IU Southeast

"I like using ChatGPT sometimes to have, like, just a nice little breakdown of tasks to do.... Sometimes it's just nice to have that basic information on top of maybe getting something more in-depth instead of spending time searching for myself."
—Undergraduate student, IU Columbus

"I've used it on some research papers to kind of help me formulate what I want to write about, and to see what options might be to talk or write about in the paper."
—Undergraduate student, IU Columbus

"I think critical thinking is something you develop without the other inputs. But I think AI does a really, I think, brilliant job of like giving you the voice as though you're critically thinking, but then not necessarily with the students having to (or with us having to) read it and really internalize what that means."
—Graduate student, IU Indianapolis

"I think that it could potentially challenge people to be more critical thinkers or to improve their critical thinking.... A lot of using AI is fact checking and making sure that whatever the AI is saying is actually correct and that you're not just compiling an entire essay and giving it to a teacher."
—Undergraduate student, IU Indianapolis

"It will deteriorate critical thinking skills and lead to a reliance on the technology over time. It is the path of least resistance, and it will be hard for many to dismiss.... I think that it will, at large, diminish critical thinking skills if people do not engage in critical thinking as a result of AI overuse."
—Graduate student, IU Southeast

"It will make people more reliant on AI which will lessen cognitive ability."
—Undergraduate student, IU Southeast

"Generative AI will expedite the process of people finding 'alternative facts' to reinforce whatever confirmation bias they are already predisposed to."
—Undergraduate student, IU Southeast

"I think… it can become an issue if people get into that mindset where they don't think and have their own ideas, and instead just type it into an AI to generate ideas for them. That's where it can become a problem."
—Undergraduate student, IU Columbus

"If it's in the wrong hands, it might not be as useful as it could be.... Learning how to properly go about input would definitely help the people who are trying to use it purely for 'just create my essay so I don't have to do any of the work.'"
—Undergraduate student, IU Columbus

"I'm very worried because I'm teaching a class this semester with masters students and we have 9 papers. I told the department I don't want to read 15 student AI [created] papers all semester, because we give these very specific prompts that you can just put into AI."
—Graduate student, IU Indianapolis

"I'm at the writing stage of my journey. I've done all the course work. Writing is a competitive game where the type of writer you are will get you certain jobs. But do people have an advantage of being able to use these tools to write at a certain level or present themselves differently? I know what I can produce, but I don't know how other people are using generative AI. Am I going to have to sound a certain way because everybody else sounds that way? Or will my human voice be valued?"
—Graduate student, IU Indianapolis

"As a person in a tech field, I have concerns of companies deciding that developers are obsolete and having AI replace them completely, which a lot of companies have done like Duolingo has. That's probably my primary concern."
—Undergraduate student, IU Indianapolis

"Maybe professors are being so hesitant about using it and do not see the usefulness of it, especially with college workloads and not seeing how that can help different students. Different students learn in different ways and having that ability to use it without a professor's help, especially if you study at night, is beneficial. But some professors don't see that. So having restrictions placed in class is a potential concern."
—Undergraduate student, IU Indianapolis

"Education will need to adapt quickly to more in-person projects and presentations and discussions. And use it as a tool. It is an unavoidable issue. AI can be a productivity enhancer and will be incorporated into every job in some capacity."
—Graduate student, IU Southeast

"I worry that when people use AI, the AI will hallucinate and confuse people when they are presented with actual facts."
—Undergraduate student, IU Southeast

"I'm concerned about the wasteful use of water and electricity use to outsource theft of creative labor and intellectual property. I'm unsure as to how it might affect my education unless IU starts using AI to read and evaluate the work of students."
—Undergraduate student, IU Southeast

"Plagiarism comes to mind, but that also feels elusive.... If I put a passage in AI and say avoid plagiarism, and it gives me back something that I copy and paste into a document, is that plagiarism? I don't know. I think it would depend on the instructor too, right? So, it's like, everybody has their own kind of interpretation and we know professors use it...."
—Graduate student, IU Indianapolis

"I know that specifically you can't plagiarize, [and] make sure that you're checking your sources. But it's also very dependent on the professor in the class. Some professors have completely prohibited generative AI. Other professors, you know, have done their research and they know its uses as applied to the class. Most of our professors are where it's like you can't use it ... just don't."
—Undergraduate student, IU Indianapolis

"Not specifically. Don't use it to cheat or do things for you should be obvious. Some classes move special sections into the syllabus about generative AI."
—Graduate student, IU Southeast

"Not really. I've glanced at some mentions, but it seems that where AI is allowed at all, it has to be disclosed."
—Undergraduate student, IU Southeast

"Some faculty have just gone into, 'let's do this all in-person,' and then on the opposite side, some say, 'let them use AI, but they need to show their prompts and edits.' So, it really is a spectrum."
—Undergraduate student, IU Columbus

"It varies between teacher to teacher, [according to] how okay they are with AI. Really, the obvious no-acceptance is if ChatGPT is writing your responses it's treated as plagiarism by some, but others allow it if you show your work."
—Undergraduate student, IU Columbus

"I hope that professors become more used to the idea [of using Generative AI in assignments] because it's not going away. You know, you can't really avoid it. Placing restrictions on it and not teaching your students how to use it effectively without plagiarizing just sort of it makes students do it anyway. But [students] don't know the best uses for it. They don't know how to not plagiarize with it. And they're just, being sneaky, which they probably don't feel good about."
—Undergraduate student, IU Indianapolis