How Ohio universities are embracing artificial intelligence
By Megan Henry
Ohio Capital Journal
As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent, Ohio universities are finding ways to responsibly incorporate AI into the classroom.
Ohio State University is starting a new artificial intelligence initiative this semester.
Ohio’s two-year operating budget requires the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce to adopt a model policy by Dec. 31 on the use of AI in schools and requires K-12 public schools to adopt an AI policy by July 1, 2026.
The state budget also created the AI Integration in Community Colleges Pilot Program which requires the Chancellor of Higher Education to award five $100,000 grants each fiscal year to community colleges, technical colleges and state community colleges to implement AI initiatives.
Ohio state Reps. Tex Fischer, R-Boardman, and Steve Demetriou, R-Bainbridge Twp., introduced a bill that would regulate AI systems in the state.
House Bill 392 defines an artificial intelligence system as “any system that utilizes machine learning or similar technologies to infer from inputs how to produce outputs that affect or influence physical or virtual environments, including content generation, decisions, recommendations, or predictions.”
“We’d like bilingual students, students who know both AI and know the practice and application of that transformative technology in the context of their disciplines and the fields that they came to college to study,” said Ravi V. Bellamkonda, Ohio State’s executive vice president and provost.
It’s up to each department to decide how to incorporate AI, he said.
“We’re not saying you have to use this tool,” Bellamkonda said. “We’re just saying that you have to have familiarity with and fluency with this tool to see if it’s appropriate to use.”
About 85% of college students have already integrated generative AI into their academic lives, according to a June 2025 study published in TechTrends.
Ohio State is creating guidelines when it comes to AI and plagiarism.
“I do want curated spaces where they’re allowed to use it because that’s the whole point of the initiative, but it may not be appropriate in every course,” Bellamkonda said. “It may not be appropriate for every assignment.”
Research from MIT’s Media Lab suggests frequently using AI tools could reduce critical thinking skills, especially among younger users.
“I think critical thinking becomes more important in this age of AI because only those people who are really smart in how they engage AI will do really well,” said Gaurav Bansal, chair and O’Bleness Full Professor of Analytics & Information System at Ohio University’s College of Business.
Bellamkonda compared using AI to using a calculator.
“The use of calculators has not dumbed us down,” he said. “We found other things to do with our brains. … Every single time we’ve dealt with technology, we brought value to the table.”
OU’s College of Business is incorporating more AI-specific courses including a new AI in business graduate certificate and a new AI concentration for their graduate program.
“When we ask the students how you see your future in the age of AI and many of them indicate fear, it talks about job displacement and fear and … how many jobs will survive in the age of AI,” Bansal said. “Our focus is that we teach students, that they learn how they can augment themselves.”
Humans “can play a very important role in making sure that AI is used, developed, and implemented in an ethical way,” he said.