The Best Use of AI Might Be More Time With People

by Claire L. Brady, EdD

I was recently invited by the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors (AFA) to contribute an article to an issue of Perspectives focused on artificial intelligence.

As a member of a Greek-letter organization, a former alumnae volunteer, and a lifelong student affairs professional, I knew immediately where I wanted to focus.

There are plenty of important conversations to have about what AI can do for our work. But I am increasingly interested in another question: As AI becomes more capable, what becomes even more important for us to do well?

For fraternity and sorority life, the answer is deeply connected to the purpose of the work itself: developing people, strengthening relationships, creating belonging, helping students navigate conflict and accountability, and supporting them as they become leaders.

AI can support that work. It can also create more capacity for it.

That became the central argument of my Perspectives article, The Algorithm Can't Do This: AI, Human Connection, and the Future of Fraternity/Sorority Life. I was honored to be included in the issue, and while I wrote specifically for fraternity and sorority life professionals, these ideas extend well beyond FSL. They apply to anyone working directly with students, leadership development, culture, belonging, or student organizations as we navigate the impact of AI in higher ed.

Here are six ideas I hope we keep at the center of that conversation:

1. Lead with the work that is uniquely human.

Belonging. Trust. Leadership development. Accountability. Judgment. Relationships. These aren't secondary to our work; they are the work. As we make decisions about AI, these human outcomes should be our starting point. The question becomes not simply what AI can help us accomplish, but how it can support the experiences and relationships we are trying to create.

2. Use AI to create more capacity for connection.

This is one of the opportunities I find most exciting. AI can help with administrative and routine work: drafting communications, synthesizing information, preparing meeting materials, analyzing data, or getting a first draft started. If those efficiencies give a professional another hour to advise a struggling chapter president, mentor a student leader, facilitate a difficult conversation, or simply be more present with students, that is an AI use case worth paying attention to.

3. Let values guide AI decisions.

One of the principles I write about in AI with Intention is values before vendors. Start with the experience you want to create and the outcomes that matter. Then ask how technology can support them. If relationships are central to your recruitment experience, for example, consider how AI can help people build those relationships rather than making automation itself the objective. Technology is the tool. Your values provide the direction.

4. Design student experiences that deepen learning and growth.

Students are already using AI, which gives us an opportunity to think differently about how we design leadership development, reflection, educational programs, and other learning experiences. The goal should be experiences that invite genuine reflection, dialogue, ethical reasoning, problem-solving, and engagement. That is student development work. AI simply gives us a new context in which to do it.

5. Build AI judgment, not just AI skills.

Knowing how to prompt a tool is useful. Knowing when, why, and how to use it well is far more durable. Students need opportunities to develop discernment around AI just as they develop judgment around leadership, relationships, communication, and ethical decision-making. And frankly, so do we. AI literacy matters. AI judgment matters more.

6. Invest even more deeply in human connection.

Perhaps this is the biggest takeaway for me. As AI becomes better at producing content, organizing information, answering questions, and completing routine tasks, the deeply human parts of our work become more, not less valuable. Fraternity and sorority life has always been about developing people and communities. The same is true across much of student affairs.

AI doesn't change that mission. It gives us an opportunity to recommit to it.

The question ahead isn't simply how much AI we can integrate into our work. It is what we choose to do with the capacity AI creates. For me, that is the opportunity: Use AI to create more space for the work that makes our work matter, such as developing people, strengthening relationships, and building belonging.