AI use on the rise in Manitoba schools

New data is revealing the good, the bad and the ugly of artificial intelligence in schools.

AI is among Temiloluwa Daramola’s school supplies this year.

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“It's 2024, and AI is very much used everywhere in every aspect,” she told CTV News.

The third-year neuroscience student at the University of Winnipeg said AI has helped her a lot when it comes to studying.

“I literally put my slides in the AI and then asked it to summarize (them) for me, create mock-up questions. It really helps,” she said. “I think it’s boosted my studying.”

She isn’t alone.

KPMG surveyed 423 students across the country, finding nearly six in 10 use generative AI in their school work. Most reported using AI to generate ideas and conduct research, but others said they would use AI to write essays and complete tests or exams.

Of those students, 82 per cent said they have claimed generative AI content as their own work.

“The question isn't should we ban it or allow it entirely? It's at what point and to what degree do we encourage students to make use of these tools?” said David Gerhard, the head of computer science at the University of Manitoba.

He said it shouldn’t be a surprise that so many students are using AI. But post-secondary institutions should be taking notes.

“If we have a student go through our programs and we forbid them from using a new and powerful technology, then we're not setting them up for success in the world that they're going to be living in and working in,” he said.

“We want to make sure that they know what these tools are and how they work and what's appropriate and inappropriate in terms of their use.”

That’s exactly what Red River College Polytech is trying to do. The school is in the process of rolling out Generative AI Guidelines for students.

“We embrace that. We want to see staff, students, faculty using Gen AI,” said Kerry Macdonald, director of RRC Polytech’s Centre for Learning and Program Excellence.

She said the goal is to find the balance between a responsible use of AI in the classroom and the potential problems and challenges that could arise – like students claiming AI content as their own work.

“Like any tool, it depends on how you use it,” Macdonald said. “Those kinds of skills, they're commonly being referred to right now as Gen AI literacy skills. So we want to build that literacy in our students.”

The University of Manitoba tells CTV News it takes an "educational approach" to AI to make sure faculty and students know what is acceptable.

“UM recently initiated a committee on AI to ensure that dialogue continues about potential positive opportunities for this technology and offer guidance related to possible areas of concern, for instance, academic and research integrity, and protection of intellectual property,” Mark Torchia, vice-provost of teaching and learning at the university, said in a statement.

The University of Winnipeg said its students must follow principles of academic integrity when using AI, which includes a requirement to cite AI tools when used. But ultimately, the university said it is up to the instructors to determine how AI is used in their classroom.

“If an instructor prohibits the use of AI tools in a course, students who use AI for assignments may face an allegation of academic misconduct,” the university said in an email to CTV News.

For Daramola, who is now in her last year at the university, she believes as long as it is used properly and responsibly, AI should get an A+.

“I really think AI is a useful tool. I just think we have to be able to control how much we use it,” she said.

The KPMG survey was conducted between Aug. 6 and 21, 2024, of students over the age of 18 attending university, college, vocational, or high school educational institutions. The data has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points, with a confidence level of 95 per cent.