At Babson College (US), the question is no longer whether students use AI – it’s how. The school has responded by renaming and expanding its Writing Center into the Writing Center & AI Literacy Lab, creating a dedicated space where students can discuss AI use openly and develop the critical thinking skills that the technology cannot replace.
The change was driven by Writing Center director Kristi Girdharry, who chose to expand the centre’s mission rather than treat AI as a threat. The new name reflects the reality that students are already using AI and need guidance on how to do so without compromising their own voice or learning process.
“We’re not the AI police,” said Weston Miller, an adjunct lecturer in the Arts and Humanities Division who works as a faculty consultant at the centre. “We want to meet you where you are. We’re not judging your use of AI.”
The centre’s approach is deliberately balanced. Consultants help students consider where AI may be useful, where it raises ethical or academic concerns, and whether it is supporting or replacing genuine thinking.
“We are not anti,” Miller said. “We are also not cheerleaders.”
Preserving the value of struggle
For student consultant Lily Stambouli ‘28, that balance plays out in every appointment. She encourages students to treat AI more like a brainstorming partner than a co-author.
“You’re not going to go to your classmate and say, ‘Write this for me,’” she said. “But you could be like, ‘Hey, let’s brainstorm.’”
Miller shares that view, but his concern extends beyond university students. He worries about younger learners who may never develop the analytical habits that writing demands – especially as AI becomes embedded in earlier stages of education.
“If we’re still asking students to think critically, to go out on a limb with their analysis, and they just don’t know how to do that, they’ve never exercised that muscle,” he said. “That concerns me.”
In his own classes, Miller permits AI for idea generation but not for writing papers. The goal is straightforward: “I want to hear your voice. I want to hear what you have to say.”
Meeting students where they are
For MBA student Pam Yaibuates MBA’27, AI is already a practical tool – particularly because English is not her first language. She uses it to help manage the volume of reading her programme demands, while keeping herself in the driver’s seat for all substantive work.
Yaibuates describes AI as useful when given clear direction, but never in charge.
“I will never actually say, ‘Hey, please guide me through stuff,’” she said. “I will always be the one who guides it.”
Keeping the conversation open
The lab’s structure is designed to make AI a topic students discuss openly rather than conceal. Consultants receive training built around different AI-use scenarios, and the intake process asks students directly about their intended use – whether they want to use AI, whether their professor permits or prohibits it, or whether they prefer not to use it at all.
For Stambouli, that transparency is what makes the lab meaningful.
“We just want to help you use AI in a way that isn’t compromising your individuality and perspective,” she said.
As AI continues to reshape how students write, research, and communicate, Babson’s Writing Center & AI Literacy Lab positions itself not as a gatekeeper but as a guide – helping students develop the skills to navigate this world on their own terms.
