Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a required skill in the workplace, prompting educators to rethink how to prepare students for this technological shift. Camille Banger, assistant professor and program director at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, faced this dilemma head-on by embedding generative artificial intelligence directly into a business technology curriculum. Her goal was not just to expose students to new tools, but to have them critically engage with technologies they are likely to encounter in their professional lives.
In spring 2025, Banger introduced a senior capstone project where students used Microsoft 365 Copilot for Business, a generative artificial intelligence tool integrated into familiar productivity apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. Rather than mandating set tasks, she encouraged students to experiment, document their experiences, and develop personal use cases. This approach highlighted both the promise and complexity of generative artificial intelligence in academic and workplace settings. Students quickly moved from curiosity to fluency, using Copilot to summarize meetings, refine presentations, and self-assess assignments against rubrics. However, they also grappled with the ups and downs of prompting these systems and recognized the risks associated with inaccuracy and artificial intelligence-generated ´hallucinations,´ learning to validate outputs critically.
The pilot underscored the need for iterative learning and critical reflection. Students sometimes defaulted to older routines, forgetting these new tools were available, which reinforced the necessity for persistence and habit-building with emerging technologies. The project also surfaced wider concerns about equity—since advanced artificial intelligence-powered software often comes with higher costs—and about the impact on students´ cognitive engagement, such as overreliance on automation reducing original thinking and confidence. Banger emphasizes the role of higher education in nurturing artificial intelligence literacy while safeguarding critical thought, recommending an educational practice where students first develop independent work before using artificial intelligence for review and refinement. Ultimately, she advocates transparent, incremental integration of artificial intelligence and open dialogue, urging educators to balance technological adoption with meaningful learning and ethical awareness.
