John Albert is a business administration senior at Cal Poly. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.
“I just used Chat to do it” – a phrase that wouldn’t make sense two years ago is now used by students on campus every day to describe their process of working with large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.
The introduction of AI-powered tools has dramatically changed the way we work. Through subscriptions to Claude and ChatGPT, I feel like I have a personal assistant or a dedicated co-worker by my side at all times. I have become significantly more capable of tackling ambitious tasks and topics.
As a business administration senior concentrating in information systems, it occurred to me that perhaps not everyone is receiving the same productivity gains as I am (especially those working in fields that aren’t impacted by the latest developments in technology). This inspired me to start Main Street AI, an AI consulting company for small businesses in San Luis Obispo.
I provide practical advice to local business owners about how they can implement AI into their workflow, ultimately helping them improve the way they run their businesses. Through this work, I’ve witnessed firsthand how business owners are using AI to streamline everything from customer service to inventory management and proved, contrary to popular belief, the usefulness of AI at its current stage extends far beyond academic shortcuts. AI is not just hype, it’s real.
This is why I feel the recent CSU AI initiative is particularly timely. This initiative establishes a partnership between all CSU universities and leading technology companies such as OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT. All 23 universities will receive access to some of the latest AI technologies like ChatGPT, along with training for faculty and staff.
While it’s encouraging that this initiative establishes an equal playing field, allowing all students to reap the benefits of AI assistance, the plan lacks crucial elements.
Perhaps the most fundamental question is how the way we learn (e.g., curriculums, lesson plans, assignments and tests) will adjust to reflect the new AI capabilities we’ve been armed with. The initial announcements provide no concrete plan for reimagining the future of education in an AI-powered world.
I met with Ken Walsh, an information systems Professor at Cal Poly, to get his thoughts about the initiative.
“Overall, I think this does more good than harm,” Walsh said. He sees value in giving students access to AI tools, but his experience in the classroom has revealed the complexities of implementation.
“The CSU is correct in saying that there is potential here for AI to make education better, but the problem is we are a long way from knowing how to do that, or even what this might look like,” Walsh said.
In his Intro to Python (BUS 392) course, Professor Walsh encourages students to use AI to complete assignments, emphasizing the importance of knowing how to work with these systems. He shared stories of students turning in three pages of code for an assignment when all they needed was half a page at most, showing students often cannot distinguish what is and what isn’t a useful AI output.
This underscores the need for structured education on how to effectively use AI tools rather than abandoning them altogether. The CSU’s initiative is a commendable first step. However, we shouldn’t be content with just access – this should be the foundation upon which we build a more comprehensive approach to AI in education.
I think a framework must be established, sooner rather than later, for AI-enhanced education that goes beyond just providing access. AI’s rapid evolution means solutions today may be outdated tomorrow, so establishing guidelines now is better than waiting for perfect solutions.
This framework should address three key areas. First, it must teach students how to effectively prompt and evaluate AI outputs – not just using AI, but using it well. Second, it needs to redesign assignments to challenge students to solve more complex, real-world problems that leverage AI’s capabilities. Finally, it must develop clear guidelines for when and how AI tools should be used in different academic contexts.
Without these elements, we risk having powerful tools but no real understanding of how to use them to actually be more productive. As CSU implements this initiative, it’s crucial we focus not just on access to AI, but on teaching students how to think critically with AI as a partner in their educational journey.