Day: 29 October 2025

English Professors Take Individual Approaches to Deterring AI Use

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A triptych showing three different English professors employing distinct methods to deter AI use. The first panel shows a professor lecturing on critical thinking. The second shows a professor providing personalized feedback on a digital screen. The third shows a professor leading a discussion with creative prompts. Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.
Diverse strategies in action: English professors are developing unique and personalised methods to encourage original thought and deter the misuse of AI in their classrooms. Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.

Source

Yale Daily News

Summary

Without a unified departmental policy, Yale University’s English professors are independently addressing the challenge of generative AI in student writing. While all interviewed faculty agree that AI undermines critical thinking and originality, their responses vary from outright bans to guided experimentation. Professors Stefanie Markovits and David Bromwich warn that AI shortcuts obstruct the process of learning to think and write independently, while Rasheed Tazudeen enforces a no-tech classroom to preserve student engagement. Playwriting professor Deborah Margolin insists that AI cannot replicate authentic human voice and creativity. Across approaches, faculty emphasise trust, creativity, and the irreplaceable role of struggle in developing genuine thought.

Key Points

  • Yale English Department lacks a central AI policy, favouring academic freedom.
  • Faculty agree AI use hinders original thinking and creative voice.
  • Some, like Tazudeen, impose no-tech classrooms to deter reliance on AI.
  • Others allow limited exploration under clear guidelines and reflection.
  • Consensus: authentic learning requires human engagement and intellectual struggle.

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URL

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/10/29/english-professors-take-individual-approaches-to-deterring-ai-use/

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Is Increasing Use of AI Damaging Students’ Learning Ability?

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A split image contrasting two groups of students in a classroom. On the left, a blue-lit side represents "COGNITIVE DECAY" with students passively looking at laptops receiving "EASY ANSWERS." On the right, an orange-lit side represents "CRITICAL THINKING" and "CREATIVITY" with students actively collaborating and working. Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.
A critical question posed: Does the growing reliance on AI lead to cognitive decay, or can it be harnessed to foster critical thinking and creativity in students? Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.

Source

Radio New Zealand (RNZ) – Nine to Noon

Summary

University of Auckland professor Alex Sims examines whether the growing integration of artificial intelligence in classrooms and lecture halls enhances or impedes student learning. Drawing on findings from an MIT neuroscience study and an Oxford University report, Sims highlights both the cognitive effects of AI use and students’ own accounts of its impact on motivation and understanding. The research suggests that while AI tools can aid efficiency, overreliance may disrupt the brain processes central to deep learning and independent reasoning. The discussion raises questions about how to balance technological innovation with the preservation of critical thinking and sustained attention.

Key Points

  • AI use in education is expanding rapidly across levels and disciplines.
  • MIT research explores how AI affects neural activity linked to learning.
  • Oxford report includes students’ perceptions of AI’s influence on study habits.
  • Benefits include efficiency; risks include reduced cognitive engagement.
  • Experts urge educators to maintain a balance between AI support and active learning.

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URL

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2019010577/is-increasing-use-of-ai-damaging-students-learning-ability

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GenAI News

Why Even Basic A.I. Use Is So Bad for Students

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ALT Text: A distressed student sits at a desk with their head in their hands, surrounded by laptops displaying AI interfaces. Labeled "INTELLECTUAL STAGNATION." Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.
The weight of intellectual stagnation: How reliance on AI can hinder genuine learning and critical thinking in students. Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.

Source

The New York Times

Summary

Anastasia Berg, a philosophy professor at the University of California, Irvine, contends that even minimal reliance on AI tools threatens students’ cognitive development and linguistic competence. Drawing on her experience of widespread AI use in a moral philosophy course, Berg argues that generative AI erodes the foundational processes of reading, reasoning, and self-expression that underpin higher learning and democratic citizenship. While past technologies reshaped cognition, she claims AI uniquely undermines the human capacity for thought itself by outsourcing linguistic effort. Berg calls for renewed emphasis on tech-free learning environments to protect students’ intellectual autonomy and critical literacy.

Key Points

  • Over half of Berg’s students used AI to complete philosophy exams.
  • AI shortcuts inhibit linguistic and conceptual growth central to thinking.
  • Even “harmless” uses, like summarising, weaken cognitive engagement.
  • Cognitive decline could threaten democratic participation and self-rule.
  • Universities should create tech-free spaces to rebuild reading and writing skills.

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URL

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/opinion/ai-students-thinking-school-reading.html

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Their Professors Caught Them Cheating. They Used A.I. to Apologize.

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A distressed university student in a dimly lit room is staring intently at a laptop screen, which displays an AI chat interface generating a formal apology letter to their professor for a late submission. Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.
The irony of a digital dilemma: Students caught using AI to cheat are now turning to the same technology to craft their apologies. Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.

Source

The New York Times

Summary

At the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, over 100 students in an introductory data science course were caught using artificial intelligence both to cheat on attendance and to generate apology emails after being discovered. Professors Karle Flanagan and Wade Fagen-Ulmschneider identified the misuse through digital tracking tools and later used the incident to discuss academic integrity with their class. The identical AI-written apologies became a viral example of AI misuse in education. While the university confirmed no disciplinary action would be taken, the case underscores the lack of clear institutional policy on AI use and the growing tension between student temptation and ethical academic practice.

Key Points

  • Over 100 Illinois students used AI to fake attendance and write identical apologies.
  • Professors exposed the incident publicly to promote lessons on academic integrity.
  • No formal sanctions were applied as the syllabus lacked explicit AI-use rules.
  • The case reflects universities’ struggle to define ethical AI boundaries.
  • Highlights the normalisation and risks of generative AI in student behaviour.

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URL

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/us/university-illinois-students-cheating-ai.html

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AI: Are we empowering students – or outsourcing the skills we aim to cultivate?

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A stark split image contrasting two outcomes of AI in education, divided by a jagged white lightning bolt. The left side shows a diverse group of three enthusiastic students working collaboratively on laptops, with one student raising their hands in excitement. Above them, a vibrant, glowing display of keywords like "CRITICAL THINKING," "CREATIVITY," and "COLLABORATION" emanates, surrounded by data and positive learning metrics. The right side shows a lone, somewhat disengaged male student working on a laptop, with a large, menacing robotic hand hovering above him. The robot hand has glowing red lights and is connected to a screen filled with complex, auto-generated data, symbolizing the automation of tasks and potential loss of human skills. Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.
The rise of AI in education presents a crucial dichotomy: are we using it to truly empower students and cultivate essential skills, or are we inadvertently outsourcing those very abilities to algorithms? This image visually explores the two potential paths for AI’s integration into learning, urging a thoughtful approach to its implementation. Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.

Source

The Irish Times

Summary

Jean Noonan reflects on the dual role of artificial intelligence in higher education—its capacity to empower learning and its risk of eroding fundamental human skills. As AI becomes embedded in teaching, research, and assessment, universities must balance innovation with integrity. AI literacy, she argues, extends beyond technical skills to include ethics, empathy, and critical reasoning. While AI enhances accessibility and personalised learning, over-reliance may weaken originality and authorship. Noonan calls for assessment redesigns that integrate AI responsibly, enabling students to learn with AI rather than be replaced by it. Collaboration between academia, industry, and policymakers is essential to ensure education cultivates judgment, creativity, and moral awareness. Echoing Orwell’s warning in 1984, she concludes that AI should enhance, not diminish, the intellectual and linguistic richness that defines human learning.

Key Points

  • AI literacy must combine technical understanding with ethics, empathy, and reflection.
  • Universities are rapidly adopting AI but risk outsourcing creativity and independent thought.
  • Over-reliance on AI tools can blur authorship and weaken critical engagement.
  • Assessment design should promote ethical AI use and active, independent learning.
  • Collaboration between universities and industry can align innovation with responsible practice.
  • Education must ensure AI empowers rather than replaces essential human skills.

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URL

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2025/10/29/ai-are-we-empowering-students-or-outsourcing-the-skills-we-aim-to-cultivate/

Summary generated by ChatGPT 5

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