I give Virginia Tech full credit for being transparent, but that's where my compliments end with the university's latest policy move.
Last week, Virginia Tech announced that instead of two human reviewers initially evaluating essays, it would begin using one human reviewer plus AI to evaluate students' essays in the admissions process.
I am all for adaptation and using AI ethically. However, students are generally not permitted to use AI to write their college essays. The fact that a college would use AI to evaluate students' essays feels downright hypocritical.
Virginia Tech feels the need to use AI because its applicant pool has increased significantly over the last few years. Good for them. But when you grow your applicant pool, you need to do it ethically. If the admissions office can no longer get through applications in a timely way, then they have to make a decision about whether or not college essays should be evaluated in the first place.
Using AI to evaluate objective criteria in the admissions process is one thing—like evaluating test scores. But using AI to judge subjective pieces of the application like essays is entirely different.
Some colleges have made very different announcements when it comes to using AI in the admissions process. For example, Cornell University recently warned applicants about using it. Cornell called it "unethical" to use AI to "outline, draft, or write" college essays. Bravo, Cornell. Let's hope Cornell uses the same standards in evaluating essays as they expect students to use in writing them.
READ MORE: Big Changes at the University of Michigan
I have a lot of respect for a college that owns its policies and makes them public. But Virginia Tech now needs to address whether students can use AI to write the very essays that AI will now be evaluating. Maybe they're totally okay with students using AI to develop essays. Wouldn't that be something? Either way, maybe AI can tell Virginia Tech that it's time to be clear, consistent, and ethical. If not, the very leaders who have boasted using AI in the admissions process could be out of a job soon.
