Some professors teach students how to use AI and encourage students to use it, while others forbid its use in the classroom, said Katie Karroum, vice president of systemwide affairs for the Cal State Student Association, representing more than 470,000 students.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth of these things are allowed to coexist right now without a policy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Karroum said that faculty practices are too varied and that what students need are consistent and transparent rules developed in collaboration with students. \u201cThere are going to be students who are graduating with AI literacy and some that graduate without AI literacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In February 2025, the CSU system announced an initiative to adopt AI technologies and\u00a0an agreement\u00a0<\/a>with OpenAI to make ChatGPT available throughout the system. The system-wide survey released Wednesday confirms that ChatGPT is the most used AI tool across CSUs. The system will also work with Adobe, Google, IBM, Intel, LinkedIn, Microsoft and NVIDIA.\u00a0<\/p>\n Campus leaders say the survey and accompanying\u00a0dashboard<\/a>\u00a0provide much needed data on how the system continues to integrate AI into instruction and assessment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to have data to make data-informed decisions instead of just going by anecdote,\u201d said Elisa Sobo, a professor of anthropology at San Diego State who was involved in interpreting the survey\u2019s findings.\u00a0 \u201cWe have data that show high use, but we also have high levels of concern, very valid concern, to help people be responsible when they use it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Faculty at San Diego State designed the survey, which received more than 94,000 responses from students, faculty and staff. Among all responding CSU students, 95% reported using an AI tool; 84% said they used ChatGPT and 82% worry that AI will negatively impact their future job security. Others worry that they won\u2019t be competitive if they don\u2019t understand AI well enough.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though I don\u2019t want to use it, I HAVE TO!\u201d wrote a computer science major. \u201cBecause if I don\u2019t, then I\u2019ll be left behind, and that is the last thing someone would want in this stupid job market.\u201d<\/p>\n Faculty are divided about the impact of AI on teaching and research. Just over 55% reported a positive benefit, while\u00a052% said AI has had a negative impact so far.<\/p>\n San Diego State conducted its first campuswide survey in 2023 in response to complaints from students about inconsistent rules about AI use in courses, said James Frazee, vice president for information technology at the campus.<\/p>\n \u201cStudents are facing this patchwork of expectations even within the same course taught by different instructors,\u201d Frazee said. In one introductory course, the professor might encourage students to use AI, but another professor teaching the same course might forbid it, he said. \u201cIt was a hot mess.\u201d<\/p>\n In that 2023 survey, one student made this request: \u201cPlease just tell us what to do and be clear about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/edsource.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Aisurveyhighlights.svg\")
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