Across American colleges and universities, questions regarding AI’s utility and morality spark mixed reactions among students and faculty. As generative AI finds its place in greater society, the Kenyon community is learning to navigate both its benefits and its drawbacks.
In the Feb. 19 issue, the Collegian sat down with President Julie Kornfeld for an “On the Record” interview. When asked about her goals for the future, Kornfeld noted that she believes AI will continue to test the College: “I think we have this opportunity to think about how our students are fluent in AI and have technical literacy but do it in a way that’s concordant with what we teach here in liberal arts.”
In an all-student email sent out on Friday, the Collegian asked students via an anonymous survey: “Do you have a more favorable or unfavorable opinion of generative AI?” Over the course of five days, 165 students across all class years responded. The poll was only available to students in the All Student email group, which presents an opportunity for a sampling bias.
In the survey, a majority of participants, 77.5%, held an unfavorable opinion of generative AI. The Collegian gave students the opportunity to expand on their stance. Below are a selection of anonymous responses from participants.
“I am not against AI as a whole. It can be useful for what it was made for. However, when we start trusting it to make decisions for us, replace our creativity and critical thinking or act as a human being, we put ourselves in a dangerous position.”
“I feel that the use of generative AI supplants human effort and creativity in the majority of its widespread applications, making the assignments, products and services that include it less genuine and valuable.”
“I am not ‘in favor’ of generative AI, but I think making the distinction between ‘generative’ and other types of AI in terms of morality is arbitrary and pointless. … If we want a society that financially supports artists and writers and rewards critical thinking, worrying about generative AI is a relatively small part of the picture.”
“At the college level, I see no reason that any student should use generative AI: the only thing it accomplishes is destruction of the brain and the planet.”
“I think Kenyon should turn off the Wi-Fi. All we need is pens, paper and each other.”