A.I. in Aggieland: Helpful tool or threat to student intellect?

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — 15ABC spoke with students at Texas A&M to find out if the power of A.I. does more harm than good.

• People worldwide commonly us A.I. — or artificial intelligence — as a resource.
• Recently, Texas A&M’s Mays Business School announced a partnership with Perplexity A.I. — an American web search engine to give students a more efficient way to manage their coursework and conduct research.
• While some of our neighbors think this is a great opportunity for students, others worry this tool could be harmful if it's used incorrectly.
• For more information about the impact A.I. makes in students lives, click here.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

15ABC asked College Station resident Arif Rangon what kind of impact using A.I. will have on students in the long run.

“I think in the long run, to be honest, I think if the students become too much reliable on it, they won't develop their own intelligence anymore."

People worldwide commonly use A.I. — or artificial intelligence — as a resource.

“I think artificial intelligence is something like a new way of living our life, because it's a tool that we have to adapt to it in this modern era,” Rangon said.

Recently, Texas A&M’s Mays Business School announced a partnership with Perplexity A.I. — an American web search engine to give students a more efficient way to manage their coursework and conduct research.

Some of our neighbors think this is a great opportunity for students.

“There's no way to abandon it. We have to adapt it. We have to embrace it,” Rangon said.

While others worry this tool could be harmful if used incorrectly.

"I think it's important to know how to do it, but it can't be, like, a crutch, you know?," College Station resident Charlie Nowlin said.

"I think there's definitely a risk if people are just A.I.-ing their way through school," he said.

Jon Shultz — a business owner who has worked in technology for the last four decades — tells 15ABC every technology has benefits and drawbacks. But ultimately, good always trumps evil.

"I see there's a lot of smart people out there that are very cautious about the good, the bad and the ugly of A.I. There's always a good, the bad and the ugly of any technology being introduced. What I see is that, you know, people will all basically take a look at what is good and leverage that to the fullest extent for the better, better good of mankind."