As artificial intelligence becomes mainstream, faculty and students at William Paterson are grappling with how to respond. 

Multiple studies have found that AI use by college students has increased in recent years. A 2023 survey conducted by Best Colleges showed that 56% of surveyed college students had used AI on an exam. Another study conducted by the Digital Education Council found that 86% of surveyed students said they use AI in their studies, with 24% saying they use it to write drafts.

Some STEM professors at WP say they’re not worried about AI use in the classroom

Despite the rising use of AI, STEM professors at William Paterson say AI use in the classroom does not frighten them yet.

Dr. David Nacin, a mathematics professor and the director of the master of science in applied mathematics graduate program at WP, said he believes AI is not yet smart enough to solve complex math problems, especially at the graduate level.

“There are definitely some concerns but in math, ChatGPT is not there yet,” Nacin said in an interview with the Beacon. “Quite often ChatGPT struggles to understand the question, especially in higher-level math.”

Dr. Melkamu Zeleke, the associate dean of the College of Science and Health, said he is optimistic about AI in the classroom and day-to-day life.

“Being a mathematician, it does not scare me,” said Zeleke, who specializes in Combinatorics, a branch of modern mathematics with applications in computer science, probability theory, data analysis, and algorithms.

“For STEM education, the use of AI is actually very positive, and we believe that it will improve student learning,” Zeleke said. “We don’t really see it as something negative.”

Zeleke said he does not have concerns around being able to detect whether students used AI in their work. “A professor who knows how to use appropriate AI tools in their instructions would also know how to conduct assessment of student learning that may not be impacted by any use of AI,” he said.

But another math professor, Dr. Sandeep Maheshwari, expressed concern that AI is going to hamper student learning ability.

“The reason is very simple: young people will start relying on it so much that they will not be involved in much critical thinking themselves,” Maheshwari said. “And I am not talking about essays. Even in mathematics, the concept of [a] take-home-test, for example, is useless now. If I gave somebody a take-home test, I can fully expect it not to be their work.”

Students use AI for research and outlining schoolwork

Students told the Beacon that they use AI for multiple purposes.

“I use AI probably like a couple times a week,” said freshman Omari Russell, who is studying nursing. “I use it in day-to-day life and for some assignments, to get the information or to clear the confusion or something like that. Typically it’s like if I have a big essay to write, then I use it to format my essay or how I lay out the information.”

Matthew Wondoloski, a master’s student in integrated marketing communication who interns at the Social Media Applications Teaching Research Lab in Hamilton Hall, said he used AI at his internship. 

“At first I was very hesitant to use AI until I realized how many organizations are using it to innovate,” Wondoloski said. “Some companies strongly encourage using it, like my internship I did over the summer. AI is a tool and you need to understand its limitations to use it effectively.” 

Freshman Mery Casado, who is majoring in criminal justice, said she uses AI for help with research on her assignments. And junior Damar Faller, a disability studies major, said AI is useful for writing emails to professors.

AI use in journalism and writing classes

That students will use AI to write or plagiarize their papers is perhaps the biggest concern, especially in writing-centric classes such as English. 

Some professors said they are worried students will use AI to plagiarize assignments and home tests, while others say they don’t think that AI has yet reached the level to sufficiently help students cheat on assignments in certain disciplines.

English professor Dr. Brian O’Broin said he believes AI might force some universities to resort back to using blue books for examinations, forcing students to hand-write their essays and answers.

“I think AI is a magnificent tool, but my fear is it is too powerful for students to use ethically,” O’Broin said. “And I feel that we are no more than several semesters away from universities in general around the world returning to exam centers and blue books. Otherwise, there is absolutely no way of our being able to guarantee the work that students are submitting is actually their work.”

“The only way to encourage students to write as human beings is to ensure that they do writing in-person,” he added.

Journalism classes at WP hosted several speakers this fall who warned about the dangers of AI in the news business. 

Speaking to a Sports Writing class at William Paterson on Nov. 18, sportswriter Ken Davidoff, who covered baseball for decades for Newsday and the New York Post, cautioned budding journalists turning to artificial intelligence to write their stories.

“I feel like if a journalist just wants to help out a word or two, OK,” he said. “But it makes me uncomfortable when you do generate entire pieces of content.”

On Sept. 19, C.J. Baker, a Wyoming-based newspaper reporter, spoke with William Paterson students on AI use in journalism. In a session organized by the William Paterson chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Baker discussed a series of stories that he wrote about a reporter at a competing newspaper who was caught fabricating quotes in news articles using AI. The reporter, Aaron Pelczar, resigned.

Baker told students that AI-generated writing can often be detected due to distinguishable patterns. Baker noted that AI-led writing often sounds “robotic.”

Nacin, the WP math professor, agreed, characterizing the excessive description in AI writing “unnatural” and “artificial.”

Some students remain skeptical about AI.

Junior Faith Morrison, a double major in English and film, said she used AI for an assignment once and “absolutely hated it.”