While technology and artificial intelligence continue to evolve, students can have an especially unique relationship with them
Photo Courtesy of Startup Stock Photos- Pexels
With the increase of technology, and especially artificial intelligence (AI), in our society, many communities are changing the way they operate in society. Southern New Hampshire University details that “jobs in tech, business, and healthcare are projected to grow at a faster-than-average pace through 2034,” despite the integration of AI into many workplaces. Further, job opportunities in administrative work are estimated to possibly be on the decline, as many advocate for AI to pick up much of those workloads. Although many conversations and debates about artificial intelligence center on its status in the workplace, students have also been impacted strongly by the growth of AI and technology.
CEO and co-founder of BetterCampus, Jake Silver, recently discussed these impacts with The Lamron. Originally, he joined his fellow co-founder in the making of a business to let students customize their academic and assignment digital homepages. This company started as BetterCanvas, targeting students whose colleges and universities used the “web-based learning management” software called Canvas, as The Infrastructure Community describes it, to make their academic homepages more personal. As the use of technology increased in society and education, Silver and his co-founder thought, “we could do a lot more” and began to focus on how technology could be used for good to make something that “students actually liked and cared about and was fun.”
The BetterCampus official website reports that over two million students are using the application’s features in their academic lives at over 500 colleges and universities. CEO Jake Silver explained what use of the application can look like for students, saying “flashcard generation, assignment planning, [and] better grade management” are all features it provides.
However, while admitting that technology like this can make studying and academics more “fun and easy,” he has also focused on how “technology has become more and more a part of our everyday lives.” He wants to ensure that his company provides students with technology that is only “an aid,” rather than making students too reliant on technology. He explained that his company is careful not to be something that “dehumanizes” the college experience by taking out meaningful parts of college, including “meet[ing] your friends” and “learn[ing] what it means to be an adult.” Accordingly, the American Survey Center has documented the social importance of the college experience, reporting that “[c]ollege graduates express feelings of loneliness less often, have more close friendships, and report having more robust social activity than those without any college experience.”
Silver’s company also attempts to highlight the benefits of handwriting schoolwork and being able to learn without a reliance on technology. He mentioned BetterCampus’s new “focus room feature,” which helps create “a space in which tech is not involved,” by encouraging users to put their phones away and keep them turned off while studying.
Still, there are seemingly many benefits technology can provide to students in higher education, which Silver also made sure to focus on when developing BetterCampus. “Everyone learns differently,” he acknowledged. “Some students use all of [BetterCampus’s features], some use none, some use one or two, [and] some use three or four,” he described. This adjustability makes technology valuable to students, providing practice in efficiently “plan[ning] out your academic life.”
“We are leaning into the sense of community where students make themes and share them, [and] where students make notes and share them on our tool,” Silver further explained about BetterCampus. Psychology Today details the importance of these social experiences college can provide, reporting that “[c]olleges must continue providing opportunities for students to polish their social skills, but students too have a responsibility to ensure they are developing their soft skills alongside their academic” goals.
Silver explains that he sees it as “entirely the company’s responsibility” to prevent students from misusing AI and other technologies. BetterCampus, he explained, helps students build a community, while also providing ways to help “create study materials,” instead of ways for students to “do their work mindlessly.”
According to research published by the library at the University of Southern California, “Stanford’s 2026 AI Index Report estimates that four in five university students now use generative AI.” While BetterCampus does offer AI study tools, including “AI flashcard generation,” the company remains focused on “enforc[ing] students not to use it maliciously” in their learning.
While Silver does believe that his company’s AI features and other technological tools can make studying a better experience for students, he acknowledged that “there [are] a myriad of reasons why somebody might be hesitant” to use the artificial intelligence features, and suggested students simply experiment with it and “see how [they] feel.” Yet, even if students are not using AI, running a company which “gives students the keys to their own education is beautiful.” BetterCampus, Silver hopes, can help every student with “executive functioning” skills, regardless of how they choose to interact with technology or artificial intelligence while in college.