In the article “How Are Students Really Using AI?: Here’s what the data tells us,” The Chronicle of Higher Education examines the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education and how it can be effectively integrated to support learning. The author emphasizes the insights of Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Lorena Barba as she reflects on her experience utilizing generative artificial intelligence (AI) in an undergraduate engineering computations course. Despite her best efforts to guide students on the responsible use of chatbots, she observed that students opted to use it as a shortcut and hindered their understanding of the material.
Here is an excerpt from the article: “To understand what happened, Barba points to the 'illusion of competence,' where the feeling of learning replaces actual learning. Think of an inspiring lecture that left you feeling as if you’d heard something revelatory — only to later realize that you didn’t get anything from it. That’s the illusion of competence at work.”
Read the full article on The Chronicle of Higher Education.