Opinion | What A.I. Did to My College Class

Tech leaders draw intense attention at Stanford, where students seek autographs and status symbols tied to artificial intelligence. A.I. has become a dominant topic across daily life and academics, and higher education has been widely transformed by the technology. Students who began at Stanford four years ago are the first college class of the A.I. era, with ChatGPT arriving shortly after they started. Graduation will occur after A.I. has altered their lives in different ways, including wealth for some and reduced job prospects for many. Stanford’s reputation for integrity is already strained by past fraud and misconduct involving Theranos, crypto, and vaping-related wrongdoing.

"At Stanford University, where I am a senior, tech chief executives are something like rock stars. When the Nvidia founder Jensen Huang showed up to give a guest lecture late last month, students mobbed him. They offered up their laptops and personal workstations, desperate for a signature from a kingpin of the artificial intelligence era. Last year, speaking to the same class, Mr. Huang gave out shining $4,000 graphic cards with his name autographed in gold ink the ultimate dorm room status symbol."

"A.I. is everything. We talk about it at the dining halls and in history classes, on dates and while smoking with friends, at the gym and in communal dorm bathrooms. Nearly all of higher education has been overtaken by this technology, and Stanford is a case study in how far it can go. For the past four years, my classmates and I have been the subjects of a high-stakes experiment."

"We are the first college class of the A.I. era ChatGPT arrived on campus about two months after we did. When we graduate next month, this technology will have altered our lives in very different ways. For some, it has opened the door to staggering wealth. But for many who came to Stanford just four years ago! when a degree seemed like a guaranteed ticket to a high-paying job, the door has been slammed shut."

"Stanford already had a shaky reputation for integrity when I arrived in 2022. It was the origin place of the Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes (now serving a 10-year prison sentence), the crypto fraudster Do Kwon (now serving a 15-year prison sentence) and the founders of Juul (which was forced to pay billions for getting kids hooked on vapes). All of these scandals were in the news when freshman year began."

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