While some schools are scrambling to block AI tools in the classroom, Ohio State University is going full throttle in the opposite direction: it’s not just allowing artificial intelligence, it’s weaving it into the academic DNA of every single major.
Starting this fall, Buckeyes won’t just be fluent in their chosen field; they’ll be fluent in AI, too.
The new AI Fluency Initiative aims to make sure every OSU student, beginning with this year’s freshmen, leaves with a firm grip on how artificial intelligence can be responsibly applied in their discipline. Think bilingual but instead of Spanish or French, it’s AI and your major.
Ravi Bellamkonda, the university’s provost, put it plainly: “Ohio State students will be ‘bilingual’ fluent in both their major field of study and the application of AI in that area.”
It’s a bold move in a time when teachers across the country are wrestling with ChatGPT essays and quietly Googling how to tell if a paper was written by a robot. But OSU seems to be saying: if you can’t beat the bots, teach the kids to use them wisely.
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Beyond the ban
Already, professors like Steven Brown, who teaches philosophy and ethics, are assigning papers with the help of generative AI and getting surprising results. One student used AI to write about karma through the lens of returning shopping carts. “It was creative, weird, and completely on-topic,” Brown said. “And the student was excited. That’s rare for a paper.”
Rather than shying away from tools like ChatGPT, the initiative is about teaching students how to use them and when not to. The university is rolling out new general education courses, major-specific AI projects, and a required seminar focused on AI literacy.
The message: yes, AI is powerful, but it doesn’t replace thinking.
In fields like education, students might use AI to generate a lesson plan, but they’ll also be expected to critique it, refine it, and explain what they learned. It’s not about letting the chatbot do the work; it’s about learning how to collaborate with it and when to question it.
Caution in the classroom
Still, the shift isn’t without its growing pains. Subbu Kumarappan, a professor in business and economics, said some students feel uneasy using AI, unsure if they’re cheating or collaborating. “High-performing students tend to use AI to push themselves further,” he said. “But those already struggling might fall further behind if they don’t fully engage.”
To help, Ohio State is providing faculty with guidance on academic integrity, clear rules on how AI can be used, and training to ensure the tools support not short-circuit, real learning.
The bigger picture
According to Pew Research, about a quarter of teens are already using ChatGPT for schoolwork. That’s double from just a year ago. And with AI becoming a fixture in every industry from marketing to medicine, it’s not hard to see why OSU is preparing its students to meet the future head-on.
“We can’t afford to pretend this tech doesn’t exist,” said Brown. “It would be a disaster for our students to graduate without understanding how to use one of the most powerful tools humans have ever created.”
He’s right. Whether it’s helping write code, plan lessons, or even argue both sides of a philosophical debate, AI isn’t going away. And if Ohio State has anything to say about it, neither will students’ critical thinking skills.
As the rest of the academic world debates whether AI is a threat or a cheat sheet, Ohio State seems to have made up its mind: AI is here. Better to teach it than fear it.
