Artificial Intelligence as a tool for study: a force for good?

Hey everyone!

As a student ambassador for the University of Suffolk, (and a current student studying Computing with AI and Data Science), I am curious to hear everyone's thoughts on the increased prevalence and use of Artificial Intelligence in study settings. Have you used any AI tools to help you on your academic journey so far? Do you think they're a net positive or negative for the world?

Also happy to answer any questions that people may have about studying a Computing course in general too :blush:

- Elliot

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Original post

by University of Suffolk student

Hey everyone!
As a student ambassador for the University of Suffolk, (and a current student studying Computing with AI and Data Science), I am curious to hear everyone's thoughts on the increased prevalence and use of Artificial Intelligence in study settings. Have you used any AI tools to help you on your academic journey so far? Do you think they're a net positive or negative for the world?
Also happy to answer any questions that people may have about studying a Computing course in general too :blush:

- Elliot

I have used chat gpt multiple times for academics. I've used it for a coding project - debugging and helping to identify what was missing. At some times it was wrong but most of the time, it pushed me in a direction where i could be getting more work done because I was able to understand the work more easier as I could ask questions that would be tailored to my needs(unlike google where if i were to ask a question, it may not come up but a similar answer question would, but I didn't want that). I wasn't a massive confident programmer at the time so the AI tool did allow me to know which points to start on, allowing me step by step explanation or solutions, instead of me just walking in blindly which i reckon would have doubled the time taken.

I would say that for me, it was a positive impact just because it helped parts of my learning be more personalized and relevant for me. However I do think there were times where I was becoming reliant on it at times just because the tool did just simplify problems down for me, so I was starting to prefer using AI tools rather than other websites bc so many websites were so difficult or boring to understand lol.
idk if this answers ur question or not. I hope it somewhat helps.

Reply 2

stephenrodgers

Original post

by University of Suffolk student

Hey everyone!
As a student ambassador for the University of Suffolk, (and a current student studying Computing with AI and Data Science), I am curious to hear everyone's thoughts on the increased prevalence and use of Artificial Intelligence in study settings. Have you used any AI tools to help you on your academic journey so far? Do you think they're a net positive or negative for the world?
Also happy to answer any questions that people may have about studying a Computing course in general too :blush:

- Elliot

As a student, I've found AI tools to be incredibly empowering, especially for breaking down complex topics and debugging code. While they’re not flawless, they often serve as a great starting point to deepen understanding. I believe the key is using them responsibly—as aids, not crutches. Overall, AI can absolutely be a force for good in education when used wisely.

Reply 3

anosmianAcrimony

I'm not convinced AI can be used as a tool for study. Or maybe it can, but overwhelmingly it seems like it's used as a tool for pretending that you studied while the AI writes the paper.

We're looking at a generation of scholars who don't read the source material, and have had very little practice thinking critically, digesting difficult ideas, and formulating their own original thoughts. It's a huge loss.

(edited 9 months ago)

Reply 4

eugeniaaa

Using AI has significantly improved my understanding of my subjects and deepened my knowledge. I use it everyday and ask it many questions. However, i do see some downsides. You can either use it to boost your intelligence, or diminish it if you become too reliant on it.
I've seen multiple cases where students have used AI to complete their work for them, instead of using it as a tool to improve their own reasoning and thinking. They don't really use their brain to critically think, and to come up with the solution themselves, instead they just escape it and flee to comfort, human nature is weak after all.

Overall, in the future, I think AI can be used for either good or bad depending on how humans use it. If human greed takes over the world then it's over for everyone in the working classes. At the same time, it gives people many opportunities to start their own businesses, and it will also bring a lot of new jobs too.

Reply 5

crazymeowmeow

I struggle with biology a lot at school and AI helps me study biology, explaining concepts to me and answering my questions. It's also incredibly useful for exam practice, to explain mark schemes and how to answer questions. AI can give step-by-step solutions to maths questions, dissecting them as it carries along. I have also used AI to create multiple mnemonics for me while studying biology and chemistry. While I was doing my research project, some of the research was incredibly difficult to understand so along with background reading, AI helped to break down huge paragraphs into content I could understand.

My friends and I use AI to help them create and modify their revision schedules. A lot of people also use AI to talk to it when they are struggling with their mental health and need someone who wouldn't judge them. Although this doesn't directly link to your question, mental health and academic performance are linked, and when one suffers, the other goes down with it.

On exam day, AI is useful for last minute questions, light-hearted jokes, and advice.

People who know how to use AI and use it well will benefit from it. It's an incredibly resource and we all should make the best of it.

Reply 6

crazymeowmeow

Original post

by crazymeowmeow

I struggle with biology a lot at school and AI helps me study biology, explaining concepts to me and answering my questions. It's also incredibly useful for exam practice, to explain mark schemes and how to answer questions. AI can give step-by-step solutions to maths questions, dissecting them as it carries along. I have also used AI to create multiple mnemonics for me while studying biology and chemistry. While I was doing my research project, some of the research was incredibly difficult to understand so along with background reading, AI helped to break down huge paragraphs into content I could understand.
My friends and I use AI to help them create and modify their revision schedules. A lot of people also use AI to talk to it when they are struggling with their mental health and need someone who wouldn't judge them. Although this doesn't directly link to your question, mental health and academic performance are linked, and when one suffers, the other goes down with it.
On exam day, AI is useful for last minute questions, light-hearted jokes, and advice.
People who know how to use AI and use it well will benefit from it. It's an incredibly resource and we all should make the best of it.

To add to this, if you cheat using AI in your academic work like essays or research papers, you aren't doing anyone a favour. That's plagiarism and that's wrong. So there is definitely a line that shouldn't be crossed while using AI.

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