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Preventing AI use is not the answer

When ChatGPT first arrived, it fundamentally changed the landscape of how our students complete their homework. Traditionally, homework was a space where students engaged in their learning process: they had to recall information, re-elaborate concepts, and apply their knowledge independently. Today, that process is at risk.  

We’ve seen firsthand how the widespread availability of LLMs has disrupted this cycle. Students can now bypass the entire learning process by asking an AI for direct solutions. 

This isn’t just about "cheating", it’s a qualitatively different challenge. 

AI is easily accessible, harder to detect, and increasingly socially acceptable among students. 

Most critically, when students use AI this way, they miss out on the essential cognitive processes that are central to genuine learning. 

While some instructors have moved to ban these tools, we believe that is not the right path for two major reasons:  

  1. Enforcement is nearly impossible: AI is becoming embedded in almost every aspect of digital life.  
  2.  Professional Readiness: Our students will enter a workforce where they are expected to use AI-based tools. If we don’t teach them "proper usage" now, we are failing to prepare them for their future careers.  


We also recognize that leaving students to navigate AI on their own creates new problems. 

Without careful guidance, students often rely on their own prior backgrounds to interpret AI outputs, which can actually widen the gap between students and reinforce educational inequities. Furthermore, general-purpose AIs often provide answers that don't align with the specific scope or learning objectives of our particular courses.

We believe the solution is not to fight the technology, but to integrate it "thoughtfully and intentionally". We see an opportunity to use AI not just as a response to preserve learning, but as a way to enhance it.

This is why we developed LLteacher. Our goal is to create a controlled environment where students use generative AI as a companion rather than a shortcut. By guiding their interaction, we can restore those essential processes of recall and re-elaboration that direct AI usage tends to skip.

More information about the background of LLteacher is available on our paper,  LLteacher: A Tool for the Integration of Generative AI into Statistics Assignments  

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