G(AI)etting with the program: Teaching IS and Analytics in the age of GAI

Now that ChatGPT and other Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) tools have been generally available to the public for over 2 years, it is time to assess their use by students and faculty in the classroom. In its most basic sense, GAI becomes another resource or tutor for our students. As GAI is used in more and more workplaces, do faculty owe it to students to provide opportunities to practice its use? To that end, we examine the use of GAI in undergraduate business analytics optimization and programming courses. The courses required students to formulate and solve the problems on their own and also to explicitly use a GAI tool and critique its performance and effect on their learning process. We find that students' reactions were mixed, some noting their lack of prompt generation skills or not trusting the results, but overall the experience was positive with students highlighting efficiency and optimism for the future of GAI tools. We suggest a call to embrace GAI tools by helping students understand their uses and limitations to ensure students are “job ready” and also to adapt our teaching to better highlight problem solving and critical thinking skills.