CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — A futuristic technology is having a dramatic impact on classrooms: artificial intelligence.

Professors at West Virginia State University said they deal with AI all the time in the classroom, but it’s not always positive.

There are some ways educators are using the technology to benefit students, but that’s easier said than done, especially since programs like ChatGPT can do a student’s homework in seconds.

“There are actually programs out there available to help teachers spot when classwork is AI-generated,” Jeff Hairston, principal at Ironton High School, said. “As in everything else with technology, it is a move-countermove situation, so it’ll be a battle that’ll go back and forth.”

“Educators, especially in higher education, we’re going to try to rephrase the question so instead of being directed questions that AI can answer, try to make the question more difficult for the AI to understand it,” Dr. Ali Alsinayyid, Assistant Professor in the WVSU’s Department of Mathematics, Engineering and Computer Science, said.

Because AI is here to stay, teachers are persistent in providing the right education to use it properly.

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“The good side is it helps ease life in many ways,” Dr. Sridhar Malkaram, Associate Professor at WVSU’s Department of Mathematics, Engineering and Computer Science, said. “Like, it can do several things which a human has to labor a lot to get done, but the bad thing is that people can misuse it. It can take away from learning if we let the students use it freely.”

WVSU professors said using AI to do coursework is a form of plagiarism and can result in repercussions.

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