Dr. Rebekah Benjamin, department chair and professor of Psychology, heads Lilly-funded AI Research for the Future of Teaching at Huntington University
By Ellen Batty | February 12, 2026
In the 1990s, the internet felt suspicious.
Students and educators would question whether the internet was reliable and could be trusted. Professors spoke against using it for academic research, while some even wondered if it would erode and damage learning altogether. But, even in its uncertainty, one thing was clear: the internet was the future. Since students are the future of society, they needed to learn how to use it.
Now, decades later, artificial intelligence stands in a similar place.
At Huntington University, questions about AI mirror those early debates about the internet. Is it trustworthy? Will it weaken our critical thinking? Does it hold a place in the classroom?
Dr. Rebekah Benjamin, department chair and professor of psychology, believes that this comparison is fitting. While reflecting on the early days of the internet, Benjamin noted, “If I’m doing research, I don’t have the option of saying ‘I’m not going to use the internet.’”
In the same way, AI may not be optional for long.
That reality is what prompted HU to pursue a Lilly Foundation-funded AI initiative aimed at preparing both faculty and students for a rapidly shifting world.
“The purpose of the grant is to help institutions equip their students—this is the number one priority—to equip their students to effectively live and work…in a world where AI is everywhere,” Benjamin said, so that “[y]ou know, when you graduate, are you ready for this world?”
With a $125,000 planning grant given by Lilly and with the possibility of more extensive funding in the future, the university is exploring how artificial intelligence can responsibly shape faculty development and academic courses.
Last November, the Lilly Foundation announced its initiative last November: donating half a billion dollars towards equipping Indiana colleges and universities to technologically move into the next decade. The goal is to help institutions effectively incorporate AI into academic systems and workflows to help students learn.
Rather than rushing the implementation of AI, Benjamin is emphasizing listening first. “We have decided to step back and allow people from all over campus to have a voice,” she said. Benjamin invites faculty, staff, and students to share their concerns, dreams, places where they see opportunity, and places where they see risk.
A major part of this grant is going to be “putting funding towards training our faculty,” Benjamin explains. Professors on HU’s campus, she added, are “very good, deep thinkers.” When given space to explore AI tools thoughtfully, “they get to think better about AI” and how to integrate it responsibly in classrooms.
Despite this development, Benjamin is clear that AI should not remove the challenges that come from meaningful and beneficial education.
“Learning requires difficulty,” she said. “For learning to happen, it actually requires that you are in uncomfortable spaces…and that you struggle with things.”
The goal is not to offload all the difficulties of learning onto AI, but to “create an environment where learning is happening…and at the same time, where we’re fluent enough in AI that we can use it when it needs to be used.”
An AI generated photo of a college professor teaching students how to utilize ChatGPT as an academic tool.
Ultimately, Benjamin hopes students develop discernment rather than fear or dependence. Instead of being “anti-AI” or “all for AI,” she encourages students to “develop
an ability to discern when it’s helpful and when it’s not…when it contributes to human flourishing and when it detracts from human flourishing.”
Much like the internet in the 1990s, AI may feel uncertain and even threatening. But, if history is doomed to repeat itself, the question is not if AI will shape the future.
The question is if students will be prepared to use AI to shape the future wisely.
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