Should teachers use AI for teaching?

Ohlone College

By: Ian Tan

As AI becomes more common in today’s generation, especially in education, teachers are slowly relying more on it to teach for them. But is this a good idea?

Do you think AI is getting out of hand in helping students in their education? Well, it’s not just students now. In my chemistry class, our professor assigns AI-generated videos every week as an introduction to that week’s topic. Although the videos provide information, they’re not very in depth, and occasionally are wrong. Because the AI does not retain the memory from its previous videos, it often repeats the same information from earlier weeks.

It is halfway through the semester, and I, as well as other classmates,  think that these videos are pretty sloppy. It may just be that the times are changing, but these videos scan over information, and don’t explain it the way a professor or someone knowledgeable would. A professor doesn’t just state information, they interpret it and contextualize it to help students to a better understanding of a topic, they also read the room, notice confusion, slow down, or speed up if needed. But AI on the other hand just presents facts without knowing why it’s important or how it connects to the idea.

I can understand why professors might turn to AI; it’s beneficial as it lifts off some weight off professor’s workload, but that still doesn’t excuse the videos from being wrong, low quality, or having inaccurate content. I believe that if professors are using AI, they should double-check their generated content to ensure the students’ learning. 

However, this issue isn’t just about one professor, because Ohlone College itself supports the use of AI. The school has even hosted a workshop called “integrating AI into the classroom,” encouraging teachers to use this type of technology in their classrooms. 

AI can be a useful tool in education, but it should assist teachers, not replace them, because students can also generate these videos on their own. Learning works best when we use tools to help us learn, like AI, but we should not fully rely on it or we would lose the depth that real professors provide.