A call to scholars and academics
As scholars and academics, we understand that knowledge is constructed through varying perspectives, arguments, and evidence. The context of a piece of information, who wrote it and how it was published, is an essential part of understanding what it says and determining its authority and credibility. Outside of scholarly conventions, however, everyday information use very much impacts how people (including our students) consider what they know and how they know it.
We have already seen how the internet changed our relationship with information, but the shift we are experiencing now with generative AI strikes more directly at the heart of the research process itself. With the advent of the internet, we had to learn how to evaluate informal and crowdsourced information. With social media, we battled against fake information. AI brings in a new challenge – the need to defend the very act of gathering sources in researching.
Combating the Principle of Least Effort
The Principle of Least Effort is real, and we all want to find our answers friction-free. AI generates answers that are faster and seemingly more assured than the answers you come to after hunting down sources yourself. Some AI tools can produce source links to the answers they provide, but how much do people actually use them? We are already seeing that AI-generated answers are preempting Google search results, with people less likely to click source links if there’s an AI summary. AI makes it too easy to satisfice. Additionally, AI removes the information from its container and context, decoupling the voice from its author. Multifaceted reading of texts has always been difficult for students, and if you are not used to situating a source when reading it, you don’t miss the context when AI strips it away.
What might motivate people to continue to search for information in a slower and more thoughtful way? First and most importantly, you need dedication to the integrity of a true and complete answer as well as the desire to truly know something yourself. Not every Google search rises to that level, but everyone has information needs that they care about enough to want to dig deeper. This brings me to the second, and I think more salient, point. To recognize the need to search with care, one must understand how the information system (in this case generative AI) works and how it can fail, and to know and value alternatives. We have been teaching how to research for forever in higher education, but we also need to address the real-world ways students are perceiving of information and research in their non-academic lives for it to mean something to them.
Adapting your courses in the age of AI? SMU Libraries can help
If you’re rethinking your research assignments in response to AI—whether to address concerns or to integrate AI tools—SMU Libraries is here to support you. This year, we’re launching a new stipend opportunity for faculty interested in redesigning a research assignment for the age of AI. A cohort of instructors, supported by SMU librarians, will explore how to promote student learning and research skills by designing or re-designing research assignments for their spring 2026 courses. Together, the group will also build strategies for teaching AI literacy, helping students understand the appropriate use of AI in research. Learn more about the AI and Research Assignments Spring 2026 Cohort, and submit your proposal by November 17. For additional support, join SMU Libraries at a faculty workshop on October 24.
As always, SMU Libraries is here to support information, digital, and AI literacy for faculty and students. Start with resources on AI and information literacy and research assignment design with generative AI, contact your librarian, and stay tuned for more opportunities at the Libraries.
This post was written by Megan Heuer, director of educational initiatives at SMU Libraries. Megan’s background as a research librarian enables her to support student and faculty success, as she works with many classes, students and faculty researchers each year, providing valuable insights into navigating the information landscape throughout the research process.