Artificial intelligence will not replace you. But those who know how to use it might. Learn how to ensure you are on the winning side.
While some universities are still debating whether students should be allowed to use ChatGPT in academic work, students around the world have already moved to the next stage. They are using AI to learn faster, produce better, and create more than ever before. They are not cheating. They are competing, and they are winning.
The numbers speak for themselves. According to a recent study by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) in the United Kingdom, 92 percent of university students already use generative AI, a dramatic increase from 66 percent the previous year. Moreover, 88 percent use it in assessment contexts. This is not the future of education. It is the present.
The question is no longer whether students should use AI, but rather how they can use it more effectively than everyone else.
The uncomfortable discovery: AI does not level the field, it amplifies it
In 2023, I was among the first faculty members at my university to explicitly integrate ChatGPT into an assessment (rest assured, I asked for permission first). I wanted to observe what would happen when students were given full authorization to use AI. The results were both surprising and revealing.
High-performing students became marginally better. They used AI as a sophisticated research assistant, exploring ideas more broadly, testing hypotheses more quickly, and refining their work. They treated the tool as a brainstorming partner, not as a substitute.
Students who struggled academically, however, failed to capitalize on the tool in the same way and, on average, their results declined.
At that moment, I realized that AI is not an equalizer but an amplifier. Those who approach it with curiosity and critical thinking become almost superhuman. Those who approach it without a solid foundation of knowledge are often disappointed, both the students themselves and, believe me, their professor.
Statistics also reveal a worrying trend: 18 percent of students submit AI-generated content without any editing. Turnitin and similar tools detect that approximately 11 percent of assignments contain at least 20 percent of unedited AI-generated text.
The real challenge is not whether students use the tool, but how they use it.
A new normal: When everyone has a calculator, what sets you apart?
Consider what happened with calculators. When their use in schools and universities became widespread, mathematics did not disappear. What changed was what it meant to be good at math. We stopped valuing those who could multiply three-digit numbers mentally and began to value those who understood when and why to apply specific operations.
AI is doing the same thing, but across every discipline and at unprecedented speed.
You may not know how to code, but AI can code. You may struggle to write a coherent paragraph, but AI can write it. You may not know how to analyze data, but AI can analyze it.
So the difficult question is: if AI can do what you do, what do you bring to the table?
The answer is not “nothing,” but it cannot be “the same as before.”
AI performs poorly in several essential areas:
· Critical thinking about its own output. It cannot detect logical errors or false assumptions.
· Deep contextual understanding, particularly human, cultural, or emotional context.
· Complex ethical judgment. It can list principles, but it cannot navigate real dilemmas.
· Creative connection, linking disparate ideas in genuinely original ways.
· Understanding human motivation, empathy, drive, and social dynamics.
In this context, these are not “soft skills.” They are survival skills in today’s labor market.
The students who will thrive are not those who avoid AI, nor those who copy blindly from it. They are the ones who ask: “ChatGPT gave me this answer, but is it correct? Is it complete? What is missing? What assumptions is it making? What could I do differently?”
Your competitive advantage in six steps
In the professional world awaiting you, everyone will have access to AI. The difference will not lie in access but in mastery. Here is how to build it:
1. Know when not to use AI. Not everything benefits from automation. Sometimes, the manual process is where real learning happens. The ability to discern the difference is itself a skill.
2. Ask better questions. The quality of AI’s output directly depends on the quality of your input. Vague questions produce vague answers. Precise, contextualized, and critical questions generate added value.
3. Identify errors and limitations. AI hallucinates, fabricates facts, and reproduces bias. Knowing when AI is wrong is as important as knowing when it is right.
4. Combine speed with discernment. Use AI for efficiency but apply your critical judgment to its results. AI amplifies productivity, not wisdom.
5. Use it to learn, not to avoid learning. The ethical question is not “Is this cheating?” but “Am I using this to become better or to avoid the discomfort of learning?”
6. Navigate the gray areas. AI ethics are complex and contextual. Develop the ability to think critically about each situation.
Avoiding obsolescence at all costs
Here is the uncomfortable truth: AI fluency is becoming as fundamental today as computer literacy was twenty years ago. Those who do not develop it quickly risk becoming professionally obsolete.
This does not mean mastering cutting-edge technology or becoming a machine learning expert. It means understanding basic tools, knowing how to use ChatGPT, Claude, or Copilot, crafting an effective prompt, and recognizing when an output does not make sense. These are baseline competencies that will soon be taken for granted.
Within two or three years, saying “I do not really work with AI” will sound like saying “I do not really work with computers” today. It will simply not be a viable option. The difference is that this transition is happening far faster than the last digital revolution.
Employers will not ask whether you know how to use AI. They will assume you do. What they will evaluate is the sophistication with which you use it, not your ability to operate it.
In practice: what to start doing tomorrow
· Experiment without fear. Use AI in personal projects, group work, and research. The more you use it, the better you will understand its limits.
· Compare outputs. Ask AI for an answer, then consult alternative sources. Where do they diverge? Why?
· Iterate. Do not settle for the first response. Refine your question, challenge the output, and request alternatives.
· Document the process. Not just the result, but how you reached it. The process is the learning.
· Ask uncomfortable questions. “What if this is wrong? What assumptions am I making? What am I not seeing?”
To conclude
Recognize that the age of AI is not something happening to you. It is something you can and must shape.
Five years from now, there will be two kinds of professionals: those who use AI as an extension of their thinking, multiplying their capacity and impact, and those who are replaced by them.
The good news is that you are at the perfect moment to decide which side to be on. You are young enough for this to become intuitive. You are at university, where it is safe to make mistakes. You still have time to experiment and discover your place in a world shaped by AI. Always combine these tools with your humanity, your unique ability to make ethical judgments, to build unexpected connections, and to truly understand people.
The choice is yours. You can fear AI, ignore it, or master it.
Only one of these options will make you competitive.
Sílvia Almeida, Professor at CATÓLICA-LISBON