North Carolina takes the lead in AI as college students press for literacy, guardrails, and real-world use
RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina is stepping into AI with intent. Students across UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke say this shift isn't abstract anymore-it's in their classes, study habits, and career plans.
Noah Campbell, a UNC-Chapel Hill student, first met AI in 2019 through machine learning, basic image recognition, and text-to-speech. Duke graduate Hannah Ford recalled a 2021 winter course on image recognition and a clear feeling: "something big was coming."
From early lab work to daily routines
AI has moved from niche projects to everyday tools. Students use it for nutrition tracking, online tutoring, and assistants like ChatGPT to speed up research, note-taking, and planning.
Campbell likes how AI can take in lots of information and paraphrase it. He uses it to generate practice quizzes during exam prep-fast feedback without waiting on a study group.
Ford participated in an OpenAI ChatGPT lab at Duke with students nationwide. She called it a personalized learning assistant that simplifies tasks and supports decision-making.
Admissions and curriculum are shifting
Some colleges now use AI in application screening. That means applicants should expect more structured prompts and clearer rubrics-and schools must be transparent about how the tech is used.
On campus, students are helping faculty keep courses current. Campbell is part of a project adding AI literacy to English classes and running syllabus workshops so policies and assignments match how students actually learn today.
What the data says-and what people want
The latest Pew Research Center findings point to a steady move into work: about 20% of U.S. workers say they use AI for at least some tasks, and 61% want more control over how AI shows up in their lives. Source: Pew Research Center: Artificial Intelligence.
Students see both sides. Campbell compared AI to fire-useful and risky at the same time. He expects policy to mature through trial and error as state leaders put guardrails in place and iterate.
Ford's take: education first. She supports a required AI literacy course for every student in the country-how the models work, how to use them well, and what to watch for.
Practical moves for students, educators, IT, and developers
- Students: Use AI to summarize lectures, generate practice questions, and plan study schedules. Keep your sources, check the outputs, and note prompts that work so you can repeat them.
- Educators: Add a short AI policy to your syllabus, define allowed use cases, and include an AI literacy module. Consider assignments that show process (drafts, citations, model settings) to keep learning outcomes intact.
- IT and Developers: Pilot AI for routine support tickets, internal search, and code suggestions with clear data boundaries. Set up logging, red-teaming, and a review cadence so tools improve without creating new risks.
Where to build AI literacy and skills
- Explore role-based training paths to grow skills that match your job: Courses by Job.
- Keep up with new programs and updates as the tools evolve: Latest AI Courses.
Key takeaways
- AI is now part of student life-from study workflows to tutoring and planning.
- Admissions and classrooms are adjusting, with calls for clear policies and AI literacy.
- Workers use AI more each year, and most people want stronger control and transparency.
- Progress will come through careful testing, feedback, and focused guardrails-not hype.
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