In the ever-changing technological world, MTSU must make rapid changes to its curriculum to keep up with the newest technology. The most recent technological change? Artificial Intelligence.

ChatGPT, a generative AI chatbot made by OpenAI and — according to Axois — now one of the most popular AI chatbots in the world, launched at the end of 2022. Since then, it has changed not just the technological world, but academia, society and more.

AI chatbots began to get popular around the time of ChatGPT’s launch, but three years ago, faculty at MTSU were still cautious to use any AI, Keith Gamble, a finance professor who led MTSU’s AI initiative in the fall 2025 semester, said. Students used AI out of curiosity, and faculty at MTSU realized they had to keep up with how rapidly AI began to change academia.

In June 2025, MTSU made changes to its policies regarding AI usage in assignments and instruction, encouraging ethical and responsible AI use. At the end of the fall 2025 semester, Gamble and professors from various fields came together for an AI initiative to discuss how AI could be implemented at MTSU, and they eventually created a data science undergraduate certificate.

“I have learned so much from listening to [the other professors] about how Artificial Intelligence is affecting their discipline,” Gamble said.

Gambled added AI into his courses earlier than some other professors and encouraged students to use it as a tool to break down questions and logic, not for the answers to the problems, he said. He also discussed with his classes what they believed to be ethical uses for AI and what they felt comfortable using it for.

“Students felt like it was a great success,” Gamble said. “They were glad they had that opportunity to engage with AI.”

Using AI in the classroom didn’t affect grades that much, Gamble said, but because students were more likely to use AI as a tutor, he now sees fewer students for office hours. He still found there was a full range of performance from students. Students still have the same life struggles, long work hours and other issues thar can cause poorer performance.

“[AI is] not magic,” Gamble said. “It doesn’t solve every problem in your life.”

In the computer science field, Medha Sarkar, the computer science department chair, has had varying experiences with students. The department recently added a concentration in AI, which involves teaching how to build AI models.

Sarkar asks first and second year classes not to use AI in assignments and homework, as she wants them to learn first and understand what’s behind the software. In upperclassman courses, she encourages AI use as a tool.

“We’re not afraid that all the [computer science] jobs are going to go to AI,” Sarkar said. “Because computer scientists are the ones who are building AI tools. They understand it. … We do want our students to know how to use these tools, how to have the prompts to get what they need to build a better software.”

Gambles and Sarkar recognized that in their fields, AI implementation is simple and natural, but in more artistic fields, they understand the fear and ethical issues associated with AI.

Sidelines surveyed 50 students on their AI usage and whether they had any ethical concerns about AI.

Nearly 80% of students said they used AI at some point, with over 60% saying they used it at least semi-regularly, and the majority of students use ChatGPT as their preferred AI. Those with ethical concerns — almost 80% — generally had issues with AI’s usage in the arts and how it affects the environment. Another chief concern was how AI contributes to anti-intellectualism and makes people think less for themselves.

For students who entirely rely on AI to get through their schooling, Gamble believes they are doing themselves a disservice.

“It’s going to be really hard for them to add value in the world, given that they skipped the college experience,” Gamble said. “… A college degree is not just a box to check that opens up all these benefits. … There is real learning and development in it personally that matters.”

Environmental concerns are regularly at the forefront of ethical discussions for AI, especially with the amount of water used at AI data centers. A medium-sized data center uses around 300,000 gallons of water per day, equivalent to 1,000 U.S. households, according to NPR. Water is used to cool processor chips and prevent overheating and damage in the data centers, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.

“Now these machines are relying on that very drinking water we depend upon just to not burn out, so you can produce your generative slop,” Eff Davis, an MTSU senior, said in an essay they wrote about generative AI.

Gamble also recognized this concern and proposed some solutions, including an AI model called “Ollama,” that downloads the software to your computer, rather than requiring the computation for an AI model to be done at a data center. The data center is typically required in an AI process because of the training and computation to serve prompts that travel over the internet.

Another solution Gamble proposed was quantum computing, where a quantum computer — a computer that uses quantum mechanics to solve problems — could do whatever data centers can and take far less power, water and land. However, quantum computing is not nearly developed enough to have this be a realistic solution, Gamble said.

For now, Gamble and Sarkar hope students use AI as ethically as possible and hope to see it incorporated more into MTSU’s curriculum, especially as more careers implement AI somehow.

Some MTSU students hope they can cut down on their AI usage after graduating, but for now, they’ll keep using it out of convenience.

“The more engagement with what’s happening in the world of AI, the better for all society,” Gamble said. “One of the things that concerns me the most is the people who just have no interest and no desire to ask these questions or learn about AI. They can lead society astray.”

This is a story that ran in the Sidelines 100th Anniversary Edition newspaper, a print edition meant to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Sidelines. 

To contact the Sidelines 100 editor, email sidelines100@mtsusidelines.com.