Lessons Learned from Students Using AI Inappropriately in My Class
Donald A. Saucier
December 10, 2025
Generative AI is here and is creating challenges in higher education (Balch, 2023). As instructors, we are struggling with the need to teach our students necessary and marketable skills for their evolving world (e.g., Balch & Blanck, 2025; Butulis, 2023; Parks & Oslick, 2024; Schoeder, 2024), while maintaining academic rigor and integrity. Our students are aware of and are using generative AI in many ways (Kichizo Terry, 2023), and generative AI may change the way that we and our students perceive the role of instructors in higher education (Saucier, 2025). I share my recent experiences with and reflections on my students using generative AI in my classes below in the hopes that the lessons I have learned will help other instructors navigate similar experiences with students in their classes.
