LTAC debates AI: curriculum integration, grading, internships and research integrity

Members of LTAC spent a prolonged session discussing how institutions should respond to rapidly developing AI capabilities. Ashley Dawkins (S10) described a programmatic approach at Lamar University: "Now that it is impacting almost every sector of everything we do... are we providing that knowledge to our students and what they need to do to demonstrate their human knowledge and skills that AI can't do," and urged integrating AI literacy across programs rather than a narrow add-on.

Participants raised specific operational concerns: regular-substantive interaction rules in online courses and the ethics of AI grading, the rise in retractions and questionable journal submissions tied to AI-assisted writing, and the threat AI poses to entry-level internships and initial job opportunities. Sean (S1) warned about agentic systems and the need to check automated outputs; several members recommended institution-level policies on AI use, faculty development, and curricular redesigns to emphasize human skills and work-based learning.