Is it cheating to use AI? Or do AI even the field for non-academics?

 In Swedish university sector, a special category of students are often mentioned. These students are called ”first generation academics” or ”students from homes without university traditions”. Universities often brags about being inclusive and having students from all walks of life, but whilst we often attract this group, universities sometimes fail them. By failing them I mean that we often do not have the tool nor the structures to give them the same conditions as their peers from academic homes. Because let’s face it. There exists a different between growing up in a household where studies are encouraged and reading is viewed as worth encouraging. 

In my experience as a teacher, with over 3200 hours of teaching, this becomes evident when it comes to writing. Students from non-academic homes sometimes lacks language and the certainty that comes with a sense of belonging in academia. This in turn sometimes lead to less published thesises, and sometimes even to a lower grade. It is not the intellect that fails, but the language and what is possible to express. 

And here is where I believe AI will be of benefit to academia. This since it sometimes can, if used correctly, even out the differences in texts. This is particularly evident in proof-reading, where students with academic parents often get lots of help from home. In this regard, AI can actually increase the quality of the text if used correctly. Is this cheating? No more than having parents proof-reading. Does this challenge our concept of authorship? Maybe. Personally, I believe that AI might be a tool to increase inclusion in academia, if lower levels of education teach students to prompt properly.

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