Inside AI at AU

Artificial intelligence increasingly impacts how organizations operate and make decisions, and understanding its ethical and responsible applications is becoming an essential competency for graduates entering the workforce. Aurora University actively integrates AI into online learning—not as a trendy replacement for study and work, but instead as a practical supplement that can enhance access and equity in education.

Across AU’s online programs, AI is changing the way instructors implement it and how students respond to and benefit from it. Through the responsible and ethical use of AI in the classroom, graduates enter the workforce with career-ready competencies in technology, as well as in critical thinking, communication, and adaptability.

AI in the Classroom

Aurora University integrates AI in online programs to strengthen learning experiences and enhance access, critical thinking, and communication. Faculty use AI tools to improve instructional design, promote transparency, and elevate classroom engagement. Students approach AI not as a replacement for critical thought or learning, but as a supplement that helps them work efficiently and analyze information more effectively. With the responsible application of AI tools, students can maximize the outcomes of their education and achieve better career readiness.

As an assistant professor in the George Williams School of Social Work at Aurora University, Marianne Benedek, DSW, introduces students to AI in her courses, establishing clear guidelines and academic policies. She emphasizes transparency, explaining how and when AI may be used: “It’s a great tool, but [students] can’t use it on assignments unless it’s explicitly stated.” This clarity establishes the distinction between using technology to support academic or professional work and outsourcing it altogether, helping students approach AI without confusion or anxiety.

The use of AI also often raises concerns about plagiarism, data privacy, and creativity. AU faculty address these concerns with concrete guidance on using AI tools ethically and responsibly in the classroom. “Every single course I teach, I do a presentation on generative AI and social work,” says Benedek, who provides students with resources that describe where AI is permitted or limited, with an emphasis on why these limits exist. Through presentations and discussions, students evaluate AI-generated content, identify its limitations, and reflect on the ethical implications. For instance, analyzing confidentiality concerns about inputting social worker case information into ChatGPT helps demystify AI and demonstrate how to use it responsibly in professional contexts.

Inside the Curriculum

As AI evolves, AU maintains consistent standards of academic rigor, critical thinking, and personalized instruction to serve students’ learning experiences and align program outcomes with workforce needs. Faculty use AI to improve task efficiency and make learning more responsive to student needs while upholding academic expectations.

“Before, I would spend a significant amount of time developing assignments, rubrics, and case vignettes on my own, and now I’m able to use AI as more of a collaborative tool that helps me to brainstorm, create, and sometimes refine assignments,” says Benedek. Guided by the expertise of instructors like Benedek, AI helps streamline their tasks, reallocating time so they can focus more on personalizing instruction for varying student needs.

AI technologies have even evolved enough to become part of certain curricula in different capacities. Faculty teach students across disciplines how to incorporate AI as a supplemental tool in their work, such as in data analysis or even creative applications, reflecting AU’s efforts to equip students with employer-aligned AI skills.

Students in nursing programs, for instance, use AI-powered virtual reality technology to practice nursing assessments and patient care. With computer-generated scenarios, such as reading charts, speaking to patients, and administering tests and treatments, these tools allow students to gain nursing experiences and develop critical thinking and decision-making skills beyond just reading case studies.

What It Means to Use AI Ethically

Gopal Gupta, Ph.D., Joe Dunham Distinguished Associate Professor of Ethics at AU, stresses the importance of discernment in the use of AI: “We use AI ethically when we treat it as a tool, rather than as the guide.” Ethical and responsible use of AI depends on recognizing its strengths but also its weaknesses, limitations, biases, and shortcomings. This requires critically evaluating the reasoning AI generates and discerning when the judgement of human thinking agents should take precedence.

Across disciplines, faculty follow this framework by establishing clear classroom policies and acceptable AI use. In social work courses, Benedek refers to the National Association of Social Workers code of ethics to guide AI use and help students analyze its impacts on confidentiality, accuracy, and client welfare. Cases of potential misuse of AI are opportunities for teaching moments, in which instructors provide clarity and coach understanding of integrity, accountability, and professional responsibility.

From Classroom to Career

AU’s Skills Infusion Program enhances student experiences and career readiness by expanding their abilities to articulate transferable skills gained through coursework, such as communication, problem-solving, ethics, and adaptability. This training and collaboration initiative prompts faculty to review syllabi and map course outcomes to career readiness competencies outlined by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. By examining each course for opportunities to help students articulate transferable skills, this program allows students to describe how their coursework relates to workplace expectations and to analyze gaps in their skill sets.

Students develop these workforce-ready competencies by using AI as a learning and research tool and practicing analytical thinking, ethical reasoning, and data-informed decision-making. Faculty encourage learners to treat AI as a structured assistant that helps generate ideas, assess information, or organize projects, but not as a replacement for human judgment. With faculty guiding students to treat AI as a supplemental tool, students build technical fluency and discernment, abilities that employers increasingly value as industries evolve with technology.

Benedek helps students understand how responsible AI use allows efficiency to translate to empathy. In social work, professionals are often under-resourced, and finding community resources for clients can take hours. AI-assisted searches streamline those tasks, reducing the time from 20 hours to two. “You now have 18 extra hours to help other clients who may be on a wait list,” Benedek explains, showing that pairing efficiency with ethical oversight enhances, rather than replaces, these services. This principle applies across disciplines and industries, where students use AI workflows to streamline analysis, refine ideas, and focus on higher-level work.

The Future of AI at AU

As AU continues to integrate AI into education, it expands support for accessibility, equity, and personalized learning. New tools make online learning more responsive to individual schedules and learning styles while maintaining academic rigor, integrity, and faculty support, thereby improving student learning and workforce readiness.

Benedek describes the potential of a course-contained chatbot that supports students in online programs. Students could use this resource to acquire accurate information about the course syllabus. “Our online students are asynchronous and may be working at two in the morning,” Benedek explains, so they’re unlikely to hear back from an instructor immediately, but can use the chatbot to access accurate information about the course syllabus, rubrics, readings, and assignments when they need it. For working students balancing responsibilities, quick access to reliable course information helps reduce barriers to participation, emphasizing AU’s focus on equitable education.

AI innovation is most successful in academic settings when it strengthens students’ critical thinking and ethical decision-making. Gupta further explains that AI needs to be regulated and harnessed to the benefit of students rather than to their detriment, because when a machine does all the thinking and writing for a student, it greatly limits their efforts toward creativity, innovation, and human interaction.

AU’s Commitment to Ethical AI Integration in Learning

Aurora University’s integration of AI is a commitment to teaching students how to analyze, challenge, and apply technology responsibly. By equipping students with the knowledge and skills to use AI ethically, AU prepares graduates to enter industries and pursue careers that present shifting technological opportunities and challenges.

As AI, industries, and workforce demands evolve, AU integrates technology to strengthen access, equity, and accountability in education. Learn more about Aurora University’s online degree programs.