"You should arrive at the exam properly prepared, not the AI"
Sheli Kanaev, a business administration student at Reichman University, said at Calcalist and Google's AI Week that AI tools can summarize lessons, build presentations and create podcasts, but not replace critical thinking. Shachar Ben-Zeref, a data engineering student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU): "In the test, we will be on the edge alone"
"You should arrive at the exam properly prepared, not the AI," said Sheli Kanaev, a business administration student at Reichman University, during a discussion held as part of Calcalist and Google's AI Week on the use of artificial intelligence in academia. The conversation, moderated by Hanit Marinov, Country Marketing Manager for Google in Israel, also featured Shachar Ben-Zeref, a data engineering student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
It is clear to all of us that the study experience has changed dramatically. What can be done today is not what could be done five years ago, and even in the last six months there has been tremendous progress. AI has reshuffled the deck. How has artificial intelligence changed your life?
Kanaev: "There has been a very fundamental change. In my first year, I felt that artificial intelligence was the elephant in the room. It wasn't clear whether it was acceptable to use it or how we could learn from it. Today, I really feel that the university encourages us to use AI tools. Moreover, lecturers emphasize how to engineer prompts correctly: if it's a marketing course, how to build a landing page; if it's a data science course, which tools to work with."
According to her, the change goes far beyond simply copying answers from AI tools. "They really show us ways to integrate tools that are already used in the market into the learning process. It's not about writing a prompt and submitting the output as an assignment. In my opinion, it's amazing, it streamlines learning and enhances it."
Ben-Zeref: "I really feel that the change over the past six months has been dramatic. In my studies, I use Gemini as a personal learning assistant, for summarizing material and helping with complex algorithms. The best approach, in my opinion, is to focus on understanding, not copying and pasting. You need to understand the path and process used to arrive at the answer because, in the end, you'll be alone in the exam room, without artificial intelligence."
Where is the ethical line between what you do yourself and what you rely on AI tools to do?
Kanaev: "It's personal. Anyone can choose how far they want to go. For example, I ask Gemini to summarize my lectures. I upload the transcript, and it saves me time. I attended the lecture, and then it summarizes everything for me. It can even create presentations and a podcast. On the way here, I used it to prepare for an exam."
According to her, using these tools requires active involvement from the student. "It's not a 'fire-and-forget' approach. I literally ask Gemini to teach me and explain step by step why it did what it did. I ask it to organize slides and analyze articles for me. That way, if I submit something, I know I've reviewed it and verified it. That's my approach."
Ben-Zeref: "Academia has undergone a major change. In some cases, we're even asked to save our prompts and export files showing how we used Gemini to arrive at our answers, mainly so that lecturers can understand our thought process."
How do you deal with AI errors?
Ben-Zeref: "It's a probabilistic tool. We use something that analyzes data and provides quick answers. Once you understand it's probabilistic, you understand that not every answer will be accurate. What sharpens our skills as students is recognizing that critical thinking remains our responsibility."
According to him, the quality of the output depends heavily on the user. "The more critically we think and the more involved we are in crafting prompts, the better the results will be, especially when we aren't simply relying on ready-made outputs but are actively shaping them ourselves."
Kanaev: "I use AI to strengthen my work. I combine it with the presentations and materials I've already studied. I review everything myself and use AI to streamline and improve the final product."
What are the challenges of using AI in learning?
Kanaev: "AI helps us and saves time, but I also feel we've become super-competitive. Today, anyone can create an amazing product, even if they're not a graphic designer or a website builder. We've become everything. There's an incredible toolbox available to everyone, and competition among students is increasing."
According to her, because the tools are available to everyone, personal value becomes even more important. "Everyone asks: What makes me unique? What's my added value as a person alongside AI? In my opinion, that's what separates someone who is average from someone who is exceptional."
Ben-Zeref: "There is an abundance of tools today. There are AI tools for coding, podcast creation, editing, and much more. The challenge is matching the right tool to the right task. If I simply use tools in a fire-and-forget manner, I won't end up with good results. The key is choosing the right tool."
Kanaev: "There are so many tools that, as students, we feel pressure. There's a sense of FOMO. You see someone create a presentation in minutes while others spend ten hours working on one. The question becomes: How do you keep up? And how do you prepare for the job market when many traditional roles are already being transformed by AI?"
Do you have any advice for students? What should they do?
Ben-Zeref: "My advice is to start by asking AI to summarize the material by subtopics before diving into complex questions. Have it organize the content according to the logical order of understanding. That creates a structured thought process and helps you prepare more effectively for exams."
Kanaev: "Get involved. Use tools to summarize material, create quizzes in NotebookLM, and generate flashcards. In the end, when we enter the job market, we will be the hands that execute and the minds that think. So arrive at the exam properly prepared, not the AI, and learn as many AI tools as possible. That will help you stay relevant, up to date, and competitive."
