The programming education of tomorrow is needed now ? AI as a toll in the system development process

There is an increasing need for programming education to adapt and evolve with the rapid development of new technologies and tools, particularly in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). One aspect of this change is that AI tools, such as ChatGPT, have the potential to transform the way programming is taught and used in systems development. It is now possible to use AI to generate program code, redefining the role of the programmer and affecting both work tasks and skill requirements.

In this project, we are exploring how AI tools can be integrated into information systems education, in particular during a final project course. The project course has a practical focus, where students work on real business problems, often in collaboration with companies or public organisations. By incorporating AI into these projects, we hope to highlight both the opportunities and challenges of using AI as a tool to support and enhance programming education.

Previous experiences from students using AI support during this project work show that AI tools are widely used to solve practical problems and support individual learning. However, there are uncertainties about when and how AI should be used in education, both from students and professional tutors. A key takeaway is that AI tools should complement, not replace, traditional programming skills. Students still need to understand how to evaluate and organize AI-generated code.

The aim of the project is therefore to develop recommendations on how AI can be usefully integrated into information systems education, especially in the context of the final project course. By collecting the experiences of students, teachers and tutors, the project aims to provide guidelines for the effective use of AI tools in education, both to improve practical problem solving and to support theoretical learning.