AI – Future friend or foe?

From the beginning, I was a bit taken aback by how closely Perplexity resembled ChatGPT when it launched. However, after using it, I found myself liking it a bit more than ChatGPT. I chose to explore Perplexity’s capabilities by using the topic of WWI war crimes committed by Canadian soldiers. This is a subject currently popular on social media due to annexation rhetoric coming out of the U.S. The search results did not disappoint.

I appreciated the “Ask follow-up” prompt in the chat box. As an educator, I find this kind of wording encourages students to think more critically about the information they’re receiving and explore related ideas. Instead of a closed statement/prompt, like “Next question” or “Ask Anything” that tend to shut down students’ inquisitively due to is ambiguity, this prompt invites further discussion.

The “Related” section was equally useful by offering new avenues for research and learning, prompting further inquiry. This would be particularly helpful for students who struggle with forming their own research questions or are unfamiliar with a topic. On the flip side, this could encourage a “paint-by-numbers” approach—where students simply follow the AI’s suggestions without deeper engagement. I can also see some students getting sidetracked and losing sight of the project at hand.

After exploring Perplexity, I’d say it’s a strong research tool for students. It summarizes key information from multiple sources. This helps students grasp main ideas without getting overwhelmed by details—or mistaking details for the main point. I’ve noticed that a few of my students use the short blurbs in search results as their main sources of information. When I ask why they didn’t explore further, they say either that the snippet was all they needed or that the full site had too much information to sort through. This may stem from difficulty summarizing, but I also think it’s about avoiding large blocks of text altogether.

The inclusion of sources creates teachable moments about evaluating credibility. By identifying which sources were scholarly and which weren’t, it allows users to verify sources and evaluate their credibility. Not all sources are trustworthy. For example, while researching my topic, I noticed Perplexity cited Reddit posts alongside information from the Canadian War Museum. This lack of distinction between source types makes the tool less reliable. However, it also opens the door for valuable classroom discussions about digital and critical literacy.

I believe AI is the future of education. Historically, we’ve had a tendency to resist new technology. When I was in school, calculators were the controversial technology. Later, the internet and computers were seen as threats to traditional learning. Eventually, integrating technology into lessons raised concerns about student distraction. Yes, some students do get sidetracked, but those same students might have been distracted by a pencil and paper. Some learners just have different learning needs. How can we teach them to use technology responsibly without giving them the chance to use it? We can’t. They need hands-on experience with guidance—just like any other tool. The same applies to AI.

This brings us to an important question: what challenges will tools like Perplexity create for our students in the future? I often hear concerns about how AI might impact students’ preparedness for university. But we tend to evaluate these tools in the context of today’s society, without considering how society itself will evolve alongside these technological advancements. That creates a false narrative.

There’s also a deeper issue: the assumption that a university degree guarantees a stable career. That’s no longer true. Many degrees don’t lead directly to employment. Some are stepping stones to further education. I’ve experienced this personally. My first degree was in History, and I was told it would open doors in tourism, museums, or libraries. In reality, those fields require additional (and more specific) qualifications. Jobs that required transferable skills provided by all university degrees were also being pursued by university graduates, or required graduate degrees. We’ve created an education arms race—just having a degree is no longer enough. However, the trades and technical fields are often more lucrative with less up-front cost. Do these fields require students to be able to write 10 page research papers and be able to read, summarize and analyze different novels? No.

So yes, AI is changing how students conduct research and affecting some writing and information-gathering skills. But that leads us to a bigger question: What is the actual purpose of education? Are we trying to prepare every student for university? Or are we equipping them with the tools they need to navigate a rapidly evolving world?