If you’re coming to BYU-Idaho as a freshman, you’re walking into something completely different from high school. It’s not just college, but college in a world where AI is everywhere. You’ve probably already used AI tools such as ChatGPT, Grammarly, Copilot or other AI systems. The real question isn’t whether you’ll use AI here. That’s inevitable. The real question is: Will AI help you learn or quietly replace your learning all together?
After a semester of writing, experimenting with AI, getting flagged by an AI detector myself and talking to professionals about AI, I’ve learned something really important. AI isn’t the problem. The way AI is used is.
Here’s what I wish I had known about AI before my first semester at BYU-Idaho.
Why Writing Still Matters
It’s easy to think writing assignments are just about turning something in before a deadline. In reality, they are much more complex than that. Writing is a valuable skill that helps you learn and think for yourself.
I spent two hours playing with AI and having it generate writing prompts and even entire essays for me, just to get a baseline for what AI writing may sound and look like. This was called the “Bypassing Brains” project. It looked polished. It sounded intelligent. But when I finished with my prompt, I realized that I didn’t actually learn anything about the topics that I didn’t already know before.
That helped me understand what Jeffrey Wilson was talking about in his essay, Why We Write in College. Writing in college isn’t just about producing words, but about developing thinking. Writing forces you to process ideas, make meaningful connections and actually learn the material for yourself. If AI does that work for you, you may end up with something that looks finished, but you’ve skipped the part that matters the most.
English professor Samuel Head and BYU-Idaho AI officer Sidney Palmer both reinforced this idea from different angles. Head explained that assignments are built around specific learning goals, while Palmer really emphasized that the real concern with AI isn’t just cheating, but whether the students are actually learning or not. Together, their perspectives helped me realize something really important. If AI replaces your thinking, it replaces your education.
The “Bypassing Brains” Trap
AI makes it incredibly easy to skip the hardest part of learning, which is thinking and brainstorming.
During the “Bypassing Brains” assignment, I experienced this firsthand. The AI-generated essay sounded really good and honestly sounded more sophisticated than what I would have written on my own, but I didn’t feel like it was mine. I am a communications major, and I literally write for a living. Having your own work is something to be proud of, and I wasn’t proud of what AI made for me because it wasn’t mine. I hadn’t wrestled with the ideas or worked through the confusion. I was just given an answer.
That experience ties perfectly into what Zaynep Tufekci said in her TED Talk Machine Intelligence Makes Human Morals More Important. Tufekci says that as AI becomes more powerful, human responsibility becomes more important, not less. In other words, the more capable AI gets, the more intentional you have to be about how you use it.
Again, during the “Bypassing Brains” experiment, I saw both sides of this. AI was helpful for organizing ideas and improving clarity, but it struggled with depth and accuracy unless I very carefully guided it using the prompts. This taught me that AI works best when you already understand the material.
Brother Head touched on an analogy that I brought up in our interview about the invention of the calculator. You don’t give someone a calculator before they understand basic math. If you do, they never actually learn how numbers or equations work. AI is similar. If you rely on it too early, you skip the learning stage entirely.
AI, Fear and False Accusations
One of the most frustrating experiences I have had with AI was when my work was flagged by an AI detector.
I was taking a film and art analysis class with Sister Kathie Schmid. As a communications major, I write constantly. I write for school, but I also write for work at BYU-Idaho Radio. Writing is something that I have worked hard at to improve.
So, when she told me my work had been flagged as 100% AI-generated, I didn’t quite know what to do. I hadn’t used AI at all.
I was put in this really strange position. Do I intentionally make my writing worse so it doesn’t get flagged? Or do I keep writing well and risk being accused again?
When I talked to other students, I realized I wasn’t alone. Several of them had been falsely flagged and many of them had the same thought as I did. “Maybe I need to dumb down my writing.”
What I learned from my interviews completely changed how I saw the situation. First and foremost, Sister Schmid wanted to talk to me first about whether I had used AI or not and worked with me until the situation was resolved. And both Brother Palmer and Brother Head agreed with Sister Schmid, saying that AI detectors don’t actually prove anything, they just identify patterns. That means strong, consistent writing can sometimes look like AI, even when it is completely original. How Sister Schmid handled my situation confirmed that for me. She only takes action when multiple detectors agree at a very high level, and even then, she starts with a conversation instead of an accusation.
Together, these perspectives reveal a much bigger issue. AI detection is not a reliable system of proof. It’s a tool that can create uncertainty and should be approached with the student in mind.
That’s why this matters so much at BYU-Idaho. The Honor Code is built on trust, integrity and personal responsibility. If students feel like they need to “dumb down” their work to avoid being flagged, that undermines the entire purpose of both education and the Honor Code itself.
Sister Schmid gave advice that I think every incoming student needs to hear: don’t lower your standards. If you are worried, talk to your professor. Most of them want to help rather than punish.
Why AI Actually Helps
AI isn’t something you should avoid completely. In fact, both Brother Palmer and Brother Head emphasized that learning how to use AI is becoming an important skill in the workforce. Avoiding it entirely can limit you just as much as it can if you overuse it.
From my experience, and supported by what I heard in each of my interviews, AI can be helpful when it:
· Helps you brainstorm ideas
· Explains difficult concepts
· Improves clarity and organization
· Provides feedback on structure
Sister Schmid also pointed out an interesting use of AI in adaptive learning tools. Some AI-driven quizzes adjust based on what a student gets wrong, helping reinforce concepts instead of just testing them. That kind of use aligns with the goal of learning rather than replacing it.
Across all three interviews, there was a clear point of agreement that AI is a valuable tool only when it supports your thinking instead of replacing it.
When AI Hurts Your Learning
There are also times when AI clearly works against you.
In Sister Schmid’s class, she intentionally does not allow AI for certain assignments because the goal is personal interpretation. Each week, we watched a film and analyzed it based off what we discussed in class and the textbook. There is no “right answer” every time, but it is left up to you to decide. She explained it simply:
“I don’t want to know what a computer thinks, I want to know what you think.”
That idea connects directly to what Kevin Roose said in his TED Talk, The Value of Your Humanity in an Automated Future.In a world increasingly shaped by automation, the most valuable skills are the ones that are uniquely human, such as creativity, judgement and authentic voice.
AI can:
· Sound confident while being completely wrong
· Replace your voice with something learned and generic
· Pull from unreliable or mixed sources
Schmid shared examples of AI describing scenes in films that never happened or confusing differently movies entirely. That reinforced the idea that AI doesn’t just shortcut thinking, but it can mislead it.
If the goal of the assignment is based on your own perspective, interpretation and voice, then AI shouldn’t be doing that work.
How to Actually Use AI at BYU-Idaho
After everything I’ve learned, here’s the simplest way to approach AI:
- Treat every assignment like a stoplight. This method should be found in several of your classes’ syllabi
- Green: You're good to go (brainstorming, feedback).
- Yellow: Use carefully (check with your professor, as questions).
- Red: Do not use at all (personal writing, reflection, analysis).
- Ask yourself, "What am I supposed to learn?"
- If AI replaces that, then don't use it
- Don't let fear control your writing
- Write as well as you can. Don't worry about "dumbing it down."
- Use the Honor Code as your guide
- If your AI use feels like it hides your thinking instead of showing it, it probably crosses a line.
- Talk to your professors
- Each person I interviewed made it very clear that communication matters.
Keeping Your Voice in an AI World
One of the most meaningful assignments I have done was writing something deeply personal without the use of any AI. It reminded me of high school when we didn’t have AI to even help brainstorm.
It felt completely different. It was a bit more challenging getting my thoughts together on the page in a professional manner, but it was also more meaningful. It reminded me that writing isn’t just about putting words on a page, but more about connecting to the material you are writing about. This assignment is a perfect example of this. I am passionate about AI use for good and clearly have a lot to say about it.
After reading and listening to TED Talks and interviewing people about AI in education, one thing kept popping into my head. Your voice matters.
AI can imitate writing, but it cannot replace your experiences, perspective or your own personal growth.
Final Thought
AI isn’t going way. It’s only going to become more advanced and more integrated into your everyday life.
But your education at BYU-Idaho isn’t about producing the “perfect assignment.” It’s about becoming someone who can think, communicate and act with integrity.
So, here’s the real question: Will you use AI to make your work easier or to make yourself better?