In November 2025, Boston College English professor Carlo Rotella noted that his experiences in classrooms with students did not align with "the doomy picture of helplessness painted last spring and summer by well-circulated stories about generative A.I.’s effect on higher education." After surveying a number of emerging "AI-resistant" teaching strategies used by himself and some of his colleagues, he notes that these efforts have yielded short-term benefits but possess "major limitations" in the long-term as technologies iterate and improve. So why is he optimistic about teaching in higher education? As an English instructor, he notes that AI has made it essential for humanities educators to "identify the value of their disciplines" and to communicate that message clearly and convincingly to students. But this lesson about articulating value extends beyond the humanities:

For centuries now we’ve had machines that can lift more weight and move faster than human beings, and yet if you want to get stronger and faster you still have to lift the weight and run the distance yourself. Students should have teachers who show them how to use machines properly and teachers who show them how to do the work themselves. The stakes are high.

What might building trust with students look like in practice?

Using pre-semester surveys to ask students about AI
Sharing your own emerging AI literacy with students in the interest of transparency
Highlighting emerging use-cases and concerns that are relevant to course and professional contexts
Creating clear communication channels for students if they have questions about AI in course and specific assignment contexts
Providing specific guidance related to permissible AI usage, citation/disclosure of usage, and self-reflection on AI usage
Avoiding required usage of AI to allow flexibility for students with ethical concerns

For additional perspectives, listen to John Warner, author of More Than Words: How To Think About Writing In The Age of AI, discuss AI and student agency on a 2026 Inside Higher Ed podcast: