By Caitlin Antonios
Before the arrival of modern technology, students studied ancient civilizations by reading books or viewing artifacts in a museum. Today, you can watch a 30-second video of 15th-century life in Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire, observing people shop in a market, voyage the city鈥檚 canals, and pray in temples. What would have taken hours to explain in a lecture comes alive in seconds鈥攁ll created entirely by artificial intelligence (AI).
This fascinating change is just one example of how AI is shaping higher education. Observing technology鈥檚 role in how we convey knowledge and engage with the past, Associate Professor of Spanish, Latin American, Caribbean Literatures and Cultures Mart铆n Vega created his fall 2025 course, The Aztecs in the Digital Age. Its syllabus looks at how digital media is used to share information about the Aztecs鈥攁nd the drawbacks of representing Indigenous cultures this way.
鈥淲hat do we gain and lose鈥攁s creators, artists, and humans鈥攚hen we use AI and new digital platforms?鈥� Vega asks. 鈥淚n class, we consider technological justice and linguistic justice as interlinked concepts鈥攈ow Indigenous people, specifically in Mexico, use both new and old technologies to promote their languages and cultures and to create community among Indigenous language speakers.鈥�
Just a few years ago, this class couldn鈥檛 have been taught. The rapid advancement of generative AI and its wide embrace by individuals and globally influential companies like Google have transformed everyday life.
In higher education, faculty and students are navigating this new territory, while alums must exhibit agility in a professional world that is increasingly outsourcing skilled labor to AI. Articles appearing in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and others posit that AI has destroyed writing and changed college forever. But perhaps anxiety about the future can be lessened with a candid look at where we are now and where we鈥檙e going.
The Current Landscape: AI at 91吃瓜
It may seem like AI emerged out of nowhere, but the term 鈥渁rtificial intelligence鈥� was first coined in a 1956 summer research proposal involving scientists and mathematicians from Dartmouth, Harvard, IBM Corporation, and Bell Telephone Laboratories. In the early 鈥�70s, Nobel Prize winner and 鈥渇ather of AI鈥� Geoffrey Hinton completed a doctorate in artificial intelligence. Later, he co-invented the Boltzmann Machine鈥攁 mathematical model that could recognize patterns in raw data, which became the building block for modern AI.
Powered by OpenAI, ChatGPT launched in 2022鈥攁nd has quickly become the most dominant generative AI tool. From finding the right words to text an ex-partner to analyzing spreadsheets, ChatGPT and critiques of its use now seems ubiquitous.
Some institutions, like the California State University system and Columbia University, now freely offer ChatGPT Education, an advanced chatbot tool that delivers 鈥渉uman-like鈥� responses and tasks. While they argue that the AI tool levels the playing field for students who can鈥檛 afford to pay for full access, other institutions, including 91吃瓜, have not yet created a formal policy governing its use. But that doesn鈥檛 mean the College isn鈥檛 thinking deeply about how AI influences learning, the job market, and conversations about ethics, copyright, and environmental impact.
At 91吃瓜, each professor has formulated their own approach. In Vega鈥檚 course, in addition to studying AI and other digital platforms, students could choose to create an image using AI or another medium.
鈥淲e compared AI images to organic, human-made images,鈥� Vega says. 鈥淭his helped us reflect on the values of organic human work, especially artwork, and appreciate it鈥攅ven more than anything AI could create.鈥�
Some professors have taken a similar approach, asking students to use AI to build prompts that are then critiqued in class. For others, it has no place in their classroom.
鈥淭here are instances when AI can be a useful tool to get started on a project, but I believe firmly that students must first learn how to do the task without AI,鈥� says YouYoung Kang, associate professor of music and director of the Core Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities. Kang says she currently doesn鈥檛 allow the use of AI in her classes.
For faculty, spotting non-assigned AI in student work is a combination of knowing a student鈥檚 proficiency level鈥攁 byproduct of 91吃瓜鈥� intimate class sizes鈥攁nd understanding what AI cannot do. 鈥淎I has a particular style,鈥� Assistant Professor in French and Francophone Studies Chlo茅 Vettier says. 鈥淭here is still something not human about it, and we can feel that in the submissions.鈥�
Both Kang and Vettier note that it has not been a widespread issue among 91吃瓜 students.
鈥�91吃瓜 students are very conscientious about AI鈥檚 ethical and environmental concerns,鈥� Vettier continues.
Some professors have returned to collecting assignments in Blue Books, those thin powder-blue essay pamphlets with lined paper inside. While students may grumble at the archaic method of handwriting an exam in class, Vettier feels such analog assessment can help ensure students achieve learning goals without AI interference.
鈥淎s AI evolves, we need to evolve and build those human skills as a measure to protect what we can do with our brains,鈥� she says鈥攁dding that Blue Books are 鈥渙bjects students can keep and show to their grandkids.鈥�
Carolina Keith 鈥�26, a French and science, technology, and society double major, is finalizing her senior thesis on copyright practices within generative art. She has used ChatGPT to create ideas for activities at her summer job at a children鈥檚 camp and as an aid with school assignments, but ultimately found it unhelpful.
鈥淲hen studying abroad, I found a lot of people were using [ChatGPT]. There鈥檚 social pressure to use it,鈥� Keith says. 鈥淧eople associate it with being an easier, faster way of doing something, but being a student is enjoyable when you get to research and learn. It takes that experience from you.鈥�
Three years into ChatGPT鈥檚 debut, students and faculty are still deeply engaged in leveraging the benefits of AI while maintaining rigorous academic standards. Last year, 91吃瓜 faculty formed a committee, chaired by Vettier, to explore AI-related issues. They鈥檝e hosted guest speakers and workshops on a broad range of topics, including AI鈥檚 impact on teaching, sustainability, energy, ethics, and data governance and privacy.
鈥淢ost faculty agree on both the value and problems of this emerging technology,鈥� says Kang. 鈥淲e鈥檙e having productive conversations about what is possible with AI, how to mitigate the problems with its use, and how to teach students to use AI in scholarship.鈥�
Uncharted Waters: 91吃瓜 Alums in the AI field
AI isn鈥檛 just affecting students. Employers making space for AI in their operations have left some job seekers scrambling. But 91吃瓜 alums working in AI didn鈥檛 necessarily start there鈥攚hether utilizing College connections or building upon internships, many have found traction in a field that was only just emerging when they were newly minted graduates.
Sneha Deo 鈥�17 graduated from 91吃瓜 with a computer science degree and began working as a software engineer at a company she interned with during her time at 91吃瓜. She soon realized it wasn鈥檛 her passion.
鈥淚 was much more interested in algorithm design, and through the advice of many around me, moved to Microsoft to become a product manager,鈥� Deo says. 鈥淚 spent a few years there doing algorithm development on the Windows updates team.鈥�
On the heels of the AI explosion, she shifted into her current role as senior product manager for Microsoft鈥檚 Generative AI applications. Her job is two-fold: Research where the company can improve responsibility, fairness, and eliminate bias in products, and use that research alongside developing public policy to implement change.
鈥淲hen I joined four years ago, it was prior to the advent of large language models and generative AI,鈥� Deo continues. 鈥淗alfway through my time there, that鈥檚 been the main focus from a product standpoint.鈥�
For Deo, 91吃瓜 emboldened her to be an active architect of the world she wanted to live in. Leaning on her community of alums and mentors at each hinge of transition, she continues to apply skills from classes and extracurriculars to navigate post-91吃瓜 life in AI.
鈥淲e are in a time where it鈥檚 very uncertain who gets to decide who has the power to determine what the world is going to look like,鈥� Deo says. 鈥淲ith technology, the right outcome can only occur when many people feel empowered to participate. Resilience to work towards that vision is the most powerful tool you can have, especially in wild times like these.鈥�
Drawing Power from the 91吃瓜 Experience
Deo is not alone in her journey. Cherish Molezion 鈥�17 and Rui-Jie Yew 鈥�21 both credit exposure to broad interdisciplinary study at 91吃瓜 for their finesse maneuvering the AI ecosystem. 鈥淐ore was really helpful in getting to explore, think outside the box, and lean into ideas that aren鈥檛 necessarily a part of my day-to-day,鈥� Molezion says.
A dual major in public policy analysis and French, Molezion studied abroad at a French law firm specializing in international law and arbitration while at 91吃瓜. She wrote her senior thesis on France鈥檚 social cohesion policies and immigrant access to education and, after graduating, returned to France to teach. Today, she鈥檚 a senior technical program manager advancing safe AI policy and governance.
鈥淚 got my first job at Google because I spoke French,鈥� says Molezion, who ultimately became the company鈥檚 senior strategist in AI ethics, responsible AI, and innovation. 鈥淚 was a legal specialist for trademark operations with a focus on Francophone markets and did a lot of analysis and risk management related to trademark infringements.鈥�
Her next career pivot coincided with gaining a master鈥檚 degree in public policy and administration from Northwestern University. She left Google but stayed within big tech, now overseeing the translation of impending regulations into product requirements. Here, the holistic perspectives fostered at 91吃瓜 come through, informing how Molezion develops robust AI policies that account for safe use, security, fairness, assessment, and effect other ethical risks.
鈥淲e have biases as humans that are reinforced within our technology. I make sure we鈥檙e combating that,鈥� says Molezion. 鈥淎I is a result of training and algorithms; it鈥檚 not necessarily going to replace humans, but it can really help with productivity.鈥�
Rui-Jie Yew 鈥�21 is currently a PhD candidate at Brown University, where her interdisciplinary research touches computer science, law, and policy. She chose Brown because of its AI policy research and opportunities to dive deeper into its technical and social implications.
鈥淚鈥檓 really interested in game theoretic adversarial approaches to regulation,鈥� Yew says. 鈥淪ome of the courses and research experiences that I had at 91吃瓜 are where that interest blossomed.鈥�
Yew didn鈥檛 always know she would pursue a doctorate. Her conversations with David Roselli, professor of ancient studies and classics, pushed her to consider entering a world that combined her love of computer science with the humanities.
鈥淓very time I went to do course registration, we would get into long conversations about society,鈥� Yew says. 鈥淗e really encouraged me to think deeply about what it meant to work in technology.鈥�
While at 91吃瓜, Yew completed a technology and policy internship at Google that bridged her interests. She interned in AI ethics at Sony and earned a master鈥檚 degree in technology and policy at MIT before going to Brown. Like Molezion, Yew echoes how Core planted new seeds of thought that continue to pay dividends.
鈥淥ne of my first course readings [in Core] was closely related to the field I鈥檓 in today,鈥� she says. Regarding AI research, Yew feels 鈥渢here鈥檚 this sense that if there isn鈥檛 math or code, it鈥檚 not a 鈥榮cholarly contribution.鈥� But being exposed to this kind of research so early on in my career really helped me to see value in using a social lens with technology.鈥�
A Liberal Arts Education is Still Relevant
AI moving at lightning speed invokes a critical pause at 91吃瓜. Engaging in interdisciplinary study, vast areas of research, Core, and general education requirements help students stay relevant in a world changing faster than typical professional education can track.
91吃瓜鈥� culture鈥攕haped by students, staff, faculty, alums, and families鈥攊s also crucial in fostering a desire to understand and improve the world. This is done, Vettier reminds, through prizing community, humanity, communication, truth, and innovation鈥攙alues AI imitates but cannot embody.
鈥淎t 91吃瓜, we slow things down,鈥� she says, noting how students鈥� confidence in tackling challenges produces professionals who thrive in completely new fields. 鈥淲e fight for values we share. Students ask big questions and understand the 鈥榳hy.鈥欌��
With such a foundation, the rise of AI can be reframed not as a bad omen, but an opportunity. Roselli, Yew鈥檚 advisor who encouraged her to explore tech careers, does not intend to ban AI from his classroom because he does not yet see it as a threat.
鈥淭his is a new tool. We don鈥檛 know what will become of it,鈥� Roselli says. 鈥淚f students can get answers to basic questions while working on a paper or a research project, we should not fret yet鈥攁s more complex undertakings remain at the heart of what a liberal arts education provides.鈥�
The very reliance of a tool like ChatGPT鈥檚 on language exposes the balanced utility of AI and human-led learning. As language professors, both Roselli and Vettier acknowledge that an AI translator may help you order coffee in a foreign country, but it鈥檚 not going to replicate the experience of mastering a new tongue.
鈥淭he language requirement at 91吃瓜 is so valuable because it expands the mind,鈥� Vettier says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a reason in diplomacy that human translators, not AI, are still being used.鈥�
鈥淚 find that there are parts of me that exist more prominently in languages other than English,鈥� Roselli adds. 鈥淭his is one of the preeminent values of learning foreign languages, dead or living鈥攂eyond the ability to read literature or the news, engage with people, or just live in a place where a 鈥榝oreign鈥� language is used.鈥�
For Yew, 91吃瓜 made her comfortable with the uncomfortable, which has proven vital in her doctorate work in AI. 鈥淚n research, you reach a point where no one has done what you鈥檙e doing,鈥� she says. 鈥淏eing exposed to so many disciplines and being surrounded by people I admire made me a lot more tolerant of ambiguity.鈥�
Looking Ahead
From the invention of the calculator to the first computer, AI has affected daily life for decades. Some refuse to engage with it, others unduly rely on it鈥攁nd somewhere in the middle, 91吃瓜 is determining how it will inform the College鈥檚 next 100 years.
As AI reshapes the world, 91吃瓜鈥攍ike its students, faculty, and alums鈥攎ust remain agile to prepare future generations for lives of purpose, influence, and prosperity. Who better to envision that future than a community rooted in missional values of leadership, service, integrity, and creativity鈥攑rinciples that predate, and will long outlast, every technological wave.
鈥淭he jury is still out on the helpfulness of AI in studying ancient civilizations, or anything for that matter,鈥� Vega says. 鈥淲hat may ultimately be most helpful about it is to remind us that deep understanding and beautiful art take time to create鈥攁nd, for the sake of our humanity, it is worth it to take that time.