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Toward Effective Guidance of Students on AI

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has added a new dynamic to the field of high school college counseling. Generative AI resources such as ChatGPT, Bard, Bing, and the like now make it possible for students to generate essays in a few minutes. Compounding this challenge is the reality that AI detectors are not reliable. So what do we do?

It is my contention, as I have shared before, that we must embrace these challenges and lean into the difficult work of assisting our students to navigate these waters. One small change that I advocate is to stop referencing AI as a "tool" and instead to encourage students to think of it as a "thought partner." This has the subtle impact of moving student perception of its utility from mercenary (e.g. write my essay for me) to more interactive (e.g. help me improve my work). Ultimately, I come down fairly strongly on the principle of NOT using AI to generate text; however, making this small shift in framing and mindset assists students in seeing past the opportunity to cut corners and generate an essay to seeing the far more diverse and helpful ways in which AI can work in partnership with them to improve their work. 

Consider, for example, the difference between the following two prompts:

  1. "ChatGPT, please write a college application essay of 650 words on the following prompt that weaves together my love of Lionel Richie's music, my fascination with technology, and my top character strength of Creativity. <enter Common App prompt here>"

  2. "ChatGPT, following is a draft of my college application essay on the prompt <enter prompt>. Please provide 3 specific points of feedback that I could consider when seeking to improve this essay."

The first sets me on edge, while the second provides concrete feedback for the student to do the necessary work. Again, the shift is not immediate, but I have found small victories along the way.

That being said, here is a document I am working with to outline student use of AI in the college essay process. Feel free to borrow, use, modify. And, of course, I welcome feedback!