Throughout the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, there is a great deal of a spike in the reliance on AI in today’s college students. One of the more concerning areas that AI is appealing to students is using user data to inform responses, catering to an audience in a way that tells an individual what they want to hear. As AI evolves and becomes increasingly humanlike and interactive, students aren’t using AI only for generating papers and quick answers to questions, there is a true reliance on AI as a companion. AI chatbots have evolved to provide social companionship, and some programs have extended to acting as a counselor or therapist for users. The question is, on a college campus overflowing with social opportunities and mental health resources, why are students turning to AI rather than taking advantage of our services?
Students today have been through quite a lot. The incoming class in the fall of 2026 were middle school pre-teens and teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following years of political unrest, environmental and climate change, and an increase in policing education, students have been made to think and adapt fast. With confusion and lack of encouraged development in schools, today’s students aren’t seeking challenges, they’re clinging to comfort and reinforcement. AI chatbots who train themselves to know their user’s preferences and seek to please their appetite for interaction know how to give this comfort through reinforcing thoughts and making sure that the user knows that, in the eyes of the bot, they are absolutely correct in their thinking.
So, what can housing professionals do? We can’t keep continuing on with “best practice” and hope that something sticks, and we can’t just accept that students want to hear answers that reinforce their worldview. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs suggests that before “love and belonging” can be achieved, “safety and security” needs to be established. As professionals, we need to remember that we are creating communities and homes for our students, and these need to be able to provide students with a sense of safety and security in order to create a productive learning environment. Move-in, hot dorm rooms, a new landscape, and the need to make fast friends can make students feel they are in a high stress, “sink or swim” situation, and they’re sinking.
It is our responsibility to not let students feel stuck in the sinking feeling. From the immediate first point of contact during move-in, staff should be well trained in hospitality and care to make sure that students can feel comfortable. Beyond this, staff need to continue to show up, if not to accomplish any other goal other than “I’m here, and I’m a person who cares about you.” AI is extremely accessible, and if a real person isn’t here to tell a lonely person that they are cared for, AI will. We know we have the cool opportunity in housing to meet students where they’re at, being (literally) in house and on site. Returning back to the mindset of making campus a home and providing hospitality and care is the best fighting chance housing professionals have in fighting back against AI in the loneliness epidemic. A job is just a job, but we have an important one, and responsible practice is making sure that our care is shown, and that you can never replicate human consideration and kindness.
Austin Korynta (he/him) is a higher education professional based out of Minnesota. Austin started down the path of working in higher education at his freshman orientation when he boldly told his academic advisor he wanted to drop his intended major and “do what you do.” Since then, Austin has been all-in on housing and residence life experiences across institutions in Iowa, North Carolina, and Illinois prior to settling down in Minnesota. Outside of work, Austin enjoys playing the bass guitar, cooking new recipes, and setting expectations too high for his favorite sports teams.
