I Required Students to Use AI. It Did Not Go How I Expected

In this video, I share my experience requiring students to use artificial intelligence for a major assignment. While I aimed for transparency and ethical use, I quickly learned that simply mandating ai in education doesn't mean students know how to use ai tools effectively. This video explores the practical ai challenges and offers insights into how to use ai responsibly, focusing on ai writing and boosting student ai productivity. I break down the unexpected results of a classroom experiment where I required every single student to use AI on a major assignment. Like many professors, I wanted to bring AI out of the dark and show students how to use it ethically as a learning support tool. But I quickly learned that simply telling a class to "use AI" is a trap—and it did not go how I expected. We explore the two surprising reactions from students: intense ethical resistance fueled by news surrounding data privacy and environmental impacts, and the natural temptation to use AI as a complete cognitive shortcut instead of a thinking partner. I share the exact three guardrails you need to build into your prompts—clear tool rules, visible thinking checkpoints, and strict course-based source control—to transform AI from an answer engine into a critical thinking checkpoint. 00:00 I Required Students to Use AI 00:52 Why I Built AI Into the Assignment 01:54 The Problem With Just Saying “Use AI” 02:11 Students Have Different AI Concerns 03:48 Some Students Use AI as a Shortcut 05:48 Guardrail 1: Set Clear AI Boundaries 06:59 Five Questions Your AI Policy Must Answer 07:37 Guardrail 2: Require Visible Thinking 09:46 Do Not Grade the AI Output 09:55 Guardrail 3: Control the Sources 11:30 What an AI Assignment Should Require 12:36 What I Learned From Requiring AI 13:28 Comment: Are You Allowing, Banning, or Requiring AI? 14:00 Next Video: Clear AI Rules for Your Syllabus