Calgary students submit panel feedback rebuking AI in post-secondary

UCalgary’s Students’ Union submitted verbal and written feedback to a panel that was hosted on Sept. 18 by Alberta’s Ministry of Advanced Education, which sought insight into the impact of AI on post-secondary students and the labour market experienced by graduates. 

The panellists were announced in May and include experts and leaders from across the province with backgrounds in technology, instruction, and commercialization. Nicole Janssen, founder of Diffusion Advisory AI, chairs the review. 

“Bringing together voices from across post-secondary education and industry is an important step toward ensuring Alberta is prepared for the future,” she said in a news release. 

“This panel will help guide thoughtful, responsible approaches to AI that strengthen learning environments and support the long-term success of students and institutions.”

Inspired by the fourth goal of the Alberta 2030 strategy, which seeks to equip students with competitive skills in an evolving economy, panellists are expected to evaluate AI integration in post-secondary education and publish their findings by the end of 2026.

An information page posted by the provincial government tracking the panel’s progress explained that the analysis comes as employers seek candidates with AI training. At the same time, institutions try to navigate how to ethically include it in their instruction. 

President of UCalgary’s Students’ Union, Gabriela Dziegielewska, said she has seen the university try to navigate harnessing and promoting the technology, which makes the panel understandable. 

“AI is kind of a hot topic in post-secondary right now,” she said. 

“Everybody is trying to figure out exactly how it fits into the larger landscape, and from the student perspective, it’s something that is going to impact us very strongly.”

Students say negative effects outweigh prospective benefits

Dziegielewska said that when user-friendly generative AI was first introduced, students used it to cheat, and the university instantly viewed it as a threat. Since then, she said, professors have used it in areas like online and hybrid learning.

Doing so has made the technology acceptable to students, said Dziegielewska, which the union argued is a slippery slope that will eventually taint the very reason for pursuing a post-secondary education: Learning. 

“AI should not be adopted just for adoption’s sake,” she said. 

“It’s a great tool for convenience for somebody who already has the skills and knowledge to be able to evaluate the outputs, but we don’t want it to become a shortcut that students take instead of developing their own skills.”

Their primary concern is that today’s youth will become reliant on AI when completing academic tasks, Dziegielewska said, and that this trend will only worsen when they move forward in university and later in their careers. 

“We are worried about students not even getting a chance to develop those critical thinking skills on their own, and we’re worried about what that means for our province at large,” she said.

“What happens when they enter the job market? What kind of graduate are they going to be? How are they going to contribute meaningfully to the province?”

Data security is another concern, and the SU recommended that universities move away from using it to grade material and return to traditional methods. They also said they would like to see more parameters for AI use, whether set by school policies or provincial legislation.

Dziegielewska said the union hopes the panel considers all voices fairly, and closed with advice for current and future post-secondary students. 

“It’s hard to escape it now; it’s so integrated,” she said. 

“But I would say to keep making an effort to grow your own skills, try to write your own essays, read books — don’t just look at AI summaries. Try to exercise that muscle because, ultimately, that’s what it is, right?”

Copyright 2026, LiveWire Calgary. All rights reserved.

Sarah Palmer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, LiveWire Calgary.