When students meet with Career and Academic Advisor Amy Staiger, they may notice something unexpected: artificial intelligence is part of the conversation. For Staiger, using AI means spending less time searching for information and more time listening to students. Rather than replacing personal interaction, the technology has helped her become a more attentive advisor and given students more meaningful guidance.
Staiger began experimenting with AI two years ago by asking simple questions about careers and job descriptions. As her experience grew, so did the complexity of her prompts and the ways she incorporated AI into student appointments.
“AI was increasing my knowledge,” Staiger said. “I now have access to everything I could need as long as I’m prompting well.”
Staiger uses AI selectively and only with a student’s permission. At the beginning of an appointment, she asks whether students are comfortable using it and shares her screen, so the process remains visible.
“I don’t use AI in every appointment,” Staiger said. “I just use it when I feel like it's appropriate. But it really has taken away the burden of the minutia.”
Staiger then talks one-on-one with the student about their interests, career goals, and hobbies, entering relevant responses into the AI tool as she listens. Both her questions and the tool are guided by the Appreciative Advising Model of the National Academic Advising Association.
“I'm really more engaged with the student,” Staiger said. “I'm just putting their information there and then I'm really listening to what they're saying. It's allowed me to be a better, more holistic advisor.”
Based on that conversation, the tool summarizes the information and suggests possible careers, relevant BYU-Idaho majors and courses, and additional qualifications students may need, as well as potential social activities and academic societies students could join to complement their courses.
“After we get all those results, then we sit and talk about them,” Staiger said. “And I say, ‘Okay, what is off here? What did it get wrong? And then what rings true to you?’ It opens up this whole way of thinking and asking questions.”
From there, Staiger directs students to additional resources for researching careers and exploring how BYU-Idaho can help them reach their goals.
Staiger reports a vast improvement in the quality of her meetings when using these new AI tools.
“It’s made meetings more meaningful,” she said. “I would say 100% of the time that I’ve used it, students say, ‘This has been amazing. I’m leaving with so much good information.’ They’re learning how to use AI well.”
Staiger is currently working with her colleagues on solidifying the current AI model so it can be used by full-time and student advisors when students visit the Career and Academic Advising Office. (Note that no personal identifying information (PII) is used with this AI tool.)
“I’m hoping by next year, this is something our student employees will work with…so their appointments can be less transactional and more transformative,” she said.
As she continues refining her approach, Staiger says she looks to the counsel of prophets and apostles, the scriptures, and industry best practices as she determines how AI should support, rather than replace, meaningful human interaction.
“I see AI as an assistant to human effort,” she said, “not a replacement for human thought. I use AI as an act of consecration in my work—to augment the real human process of thinking things through together with the student. AI extends my capacity; it does not replace my humanity.”