With AI setting sail, Charleston's colleges risk 'missing the tech boat'

By Jonny Wall

As tech investments pour into Charleston in hopes of turning the Holy City into the next "Silicon Harbor," local universities are stepping up their efforts to prepare students for a high-tech future.

Last year, the College of Charleston launched its new School of Engineering and Computing, while Charleston Southern University expects to complete a new building to house its rapid growth in technology, all to keep pace with the evolving city.

But not everyone is getting along with the new kid on the block – Artificial Intelligence.

While many universities have focused their efforts on preventing students from using AI tools like ChatGPT to take academic shortcuts, some students say that this mindset is stalling progress. They believe that AI, when used responsibly, could significantly enhance learning in tech-focused disciplines.

Harbor Walk at the College of Charleston

OpenAI agrees with this sentiment. It granted free access to its premium ChatGPT Plus service, which typically costs $20 per month, for all college students through May to assist during final exams.

Brayden Kirkland, a cybersecurity and computer science major at Charleston Southern University, is taking a class on AI next fall, but so far, it has been absent from his curriculum.

“With how my other classes have gone, we haven’t really taken an in-depth look at AI,” he said, adding that he believes exposure to AI in introductory classes would “be very helpful."

"I think we should learn a little more about it early," he added. "I think that's important."

Nick Sailor, a computer science major at CofC, has had a similar experience. Most of his classes, he said, have avoided using AI altogether.

“Most of my computer science classes, there have been no generative AI tools at all," Sailor said. "They really discouraged it."

Despite the hesitancy in the classroom, Sailor believes that understanding how to use AI will be essential in a tech career.

"I’m pretty excited, honestly, because it's a tool in my pocket that I can use,” he added.

While students are eager to see AI incorporated fully into computer science and tech-related coursework, this notion has earned skepticism from educators for good reason.

Statista

A global study comprising 16 countries, conducted by Statista in July 2024, revealed that 86% of students use AI tools in their schoolwork, with one-fourth of them being daily users.

That kind of widespread adoption raises red flags for professors like Patricia Tyre, an adjunct faculty member at the College of Charleston and a project management professional with experience in tech start-ups.

“It's critically important that we learn not to trust AI,” said Tyre. “It has a big flaw in that there are a lot of hallucinations in AI. You don't know whether it's picking up real facts or alternative facts, and if it's picking up anything on the internet, it can be alternative facts.”

Misinformation has long been a challenge for AI models, and as machine learning improves and AI-generated content begins to dominate search engines, the line between accurate information and fabricated content becomes blurry.

“AI is a great starting place, but you need more knowledge about your environment,” she added.

That may be the heart of the disconnect between higher education and AI adoption--the technology is still young, and integrating it responsibly, especially in rigorous computer science programs, demands nuance, training, and careful oversight.

Nonetheless, students using AI tools are finding ways to meet deadlines and streamline technical workflows, and Tyre worries that critical thinking and authentic understanding might be slipping through the cracks, something she urges students to watch closely.

“It doesn't absolve us from being smart,” said Tyre. “In fact, it challenges us to be smarter, because it is fallible.”

But AI integration isn't the only tension point between innovation and caution for Charleston universities.

The city’s booming tech sector, even dubbed the “Silicon Harbor” by some, shows no signs of slowing down.

Charleston Tech Center

In November 2024, six local technology companies raised $100 million in capital for growth and expansion plans in Charleston --including Gnosis Freight, a supply chain company that surveys more than 95% of worldwide ocean commerce, and Scout, a company developing scalable artificial intelligence.

And in December 2024, global video game developer PTW opened a new facility on Daniel Island, expecting to cultivate hundreds of new tech-related jobs over the next few years.

The water in Charleston is ready, and the pool party has only just begun.

The question now is whether the College of Charleston and other local universities are doing enough to empower computer science students to take advantage of this boom period.

That is easier said than done. As Sailor puts it, some classes “need to change how the learning process” is carried out.

The issue isn’t in the material, he said, but in how it’s being delivered to students. 

“I feel like the content itself is good, but the way they’re teaching it and evaluating us on it," Sailor said. "A lot of it is memorization and that's not a good way to learn.”

That idea resonates with Tyre, who believes that the traditional classroom lecture model simply doesn't align with how technology is best learned.

“It's not something where you can sit and be lectured,” she said. “And if that's the way you’re going to learn tech, you’re gonna learn it and fail, so the whole grading system needs to be changed.”

Lecture Hall at Harbor Walk

As Charleston’s tech sector continues its meteoric rise, the gap between industry needs and classroom preparation is becoming harder to ignore. 

Students are calling for more hands-on experience with technology and meaningful engagement with tools like AI in universities, not just warnings about their misuse or capacity for misinformation.

Educators like Tyre argue that the entire approach to tech education must be revised in Charleston universities, from grading systems to how skills are taught and measured.

With massive financial investments coming to the tech sector in Charleston, the coastal city’s local universities should be preparing students for the global transition to a tech and AI-based society.

“It's time to go as fast as humanly possible, because I think [College of Charleston] missed the tech boat,"Tyre advised. "And they’re missing the tech boat every day they don't emphasize tech learning.”