A Message From Mari

AI is all around us and I, for one, am exhausted by it. I Google something, I’m met with AI; I click on a TikTok blue comment, I’m kidnapped into an AI conversation; Even when I’m trying to send an email, “Let AI help you write this.” NO, Gosh darn it, NO!

Being in college at the time of AI’s rapid growth has been, to put it mildly, hell in a handbasket, especially when I’m assigned to group projects or partner work against my will. I don’t know how many non-AI written emails I’ve sent to professors explaining that my partner(s) has used AI on a simple 200 word assignment only to be met by a “I’ll meet with them later,” with no real change made. 

I’m of the belief that AI is a cancer that is killing people’s brains, passions, and our planet, but unfortunately we’re living in a rapid, digitizing world and everyone is getting stupider for it, especially our future professionals.

AI and Higher education should not be as entwined as they are unless it’s for software development, and it shouldn’t be as normalized on HBCU campuses as it is. Where big industries can cut corners, they will and that is going to affect Black professionals that got their degree through AI plagiarism and don’t understand concepts the way that they’re supposed to and will eventually be replaced by the same AI they thought would help them because we are always the first thrown off sinking ships. 

In the end, my stance on AI and higher education is that it is making our future professionals unprepared and uncaring about the industry they’re entering because they refuse to take their time to research, study, and focus as needed. I’d much rather have the stress of having to write a paper in under two to six hours than the relaxed environment that would be AI plagiarism that in no way furthers my understanding of my field.