A writing professor’s new task in the age of AI: Teaching students when to struggle

If you aren't working at it, you're not learning it − something college students need to understand as AI makes producing work easier. Sam Edwards via Getty Images

I was early to the generative AI wave in higher education: I was among the first professors who teach writing to publish in an academic journal about generative AI and critical thinking, and I am now part of an interdisciplinary team at Babson College thinking about how AI is impacting education, industry and society.

But that does not mean I am all in on AI – nor am I anti-AI. I am pro-learning. As my co-authors and I argue in a forthcoming book on realizing the promise of higher education, even the most powerful tools are only as good as the learning environments we build around them.