dr. sharina smith

Here are my thoughts (as of August 16, 2026 – tech changes so fast, that my thoughts change, too!).

To put my thoughts into context, I have been teaching college classes since 2008. During that time, I have taught English, business communication, public relations, advertising, social media, management, marketing, business law, global business, risk management and insurance. My educational background is as an English literature major (1986) with a master’s (1993) and doctoral (2016) degrees in business administration, the latter with a marketing specialization. I have been a business professional since 1986. I also identify as a writer and am an avid reader of a wide variety of genres from cozy mysteries and sci-fi spy novels to classic literature and poetry, from nonfiction memoirs to academic journal articles in marketing, and a wide variety of business publications.

The college discussion posts and papers that I read currently, which I would bet are copied and pasted directly from ChatGPT, Copilot, etc., are flat and usually don’t earn the students an A in my class. The writing is devoid of deep, critical thinking, and it lacks a feeling of personal ownership of the topic. There usually is not a lot of analytical or creative thinking evident in these posts or papers. It is obvious to me that not a lot of effort was made by the students to use AI as a learning tool as much as it was used for an easy way to get their assignments done.

That being said, this was true when Google searches were first invented (I was there!) and I could tell that students would cut and paste straight from the search results (didn’t they realize I had a Google search engine, too?!), and in the “old-er days” when girlfriends used to handwrite and type their boyfriends’ papers and vice versa. (You would be surprised at how many Southwest Baptist University alumni pastors admitted to me that their wives really should have gotten their degrees since they wrote all of their papers!). A shortcut is a shortcut, and it is not deeply educating the student or preparing them for professional excellence. It even could be called cheating.

Now, if AI tools (or a good old-fashioned Google search) helps one find some basic information, and that information is followed to reliable sources, researched, studied, and shaped into one’s own thoughts on the topic, then I am all for using these tools in academic writing and in business communication.

I find AI invaluable in starting drafts of emails, reports, social media posts, resumes, cover letters, and even my grading comments and rubrics! Admittedly, sometimes I am lazy and cut/paste straight from AI, when the stakes are not very high, but I would not be representing my intellect well if I just used what AI spit out without engaging with the content, researching further,  and re-writing the draft outputs in my voice, adding my critical thinking to the final text. Just as if one were using Google search results, information from a textbook or academic article, or other research source, citing one’s AI sources builds credibility. The APA Style website has a helpful resource on how to cite AI sources: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/ai-references

As an old teacher, I really don’t care if students take shortcuts. That may sound awful, but it is not my responsibility to control students’ behavior. I can make students aware of academic (and business professional) expectations, but I can’t make them adhere to the principles and protocols. At the end of the day, the students are responsible for their own integrity and quality of their work, as are business professionals.

If students are taking shortcuts at school, they probably will or are taking shortcuts at work, and the poor quality of their output eventually will catch up to them. Now, if I catch plagiarism or other academic violations in students’ writing, I will present the students with the appropriate consequences. If they have used AI (or a Google search) well and produced a solid bit of excellent writing that demonstrates their critical thinking, their grade will reflect that effort, especially if they have properly cited their sources and referenced them at the end of their papers or posts.

At my workplace, I recently learned that they are soon to launch an AI assistant for interviewing. Plugging in the job description and a resume, one can coach the AI tool to produce an analysis of the resume writer’s suitability for the job, and it can produce a number of very well-written interview questions, as deeply as one wants to probe a job candidate. That will be a huge time-saver for me when I am recruiting!

In addition, I have started coaching some of my staff who are studying for their FINRA licensing exams, a very complicated and complex series of examinations. It would take us hours that we don’t have to prepare study questions and study guides on the topics that are typical for the FINRA tests. Asking AI to produce a set of FINRA exam questions, and the answer guides with explanations and common pitfalls, results in usable, in-depth study content in a matter of minutes! This is a valuable time saver, and I think an appropriate use of our AI tools.

Finally, I know I am biased as a proud mama, but I think my daughter has a wonderful perspective on the use of AI. Maybe it’s genetic, but she is a business professional and a college teacher, too!

Writing is my superpower. I still use AI all the time.

I welcome your thoughts and enjoy a good intellectual conversation!