By Gleb Tsipursky
Gettysburg College described its new AI initiative at a September faculty meeting https://gettysburgian.com/2026/09/faculty-meeting-9-10-center-for-student-success-and-writing-center-updates-ai-policy-and-committee-motions/: the first year focuses on learning and exploration, after more than 30 summer workshops. That’s a sensible start. Now students and local employers need a way to tell whether that learning leads to better judgment.
An October Gallup study https://news.gallup.com/poll/714602/benefits-work-unevenly-distributed.aspx found that 40% of college graduates use AI at work at least weekly, compared with 17% of workers without college degrees. Those figures describe a divide in use, not proof that AI caused it. Nevertheless, training that rewards the fastest prompt writer can leave less-connected workers further behind.
A newer Pew Research Center analysis https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/10/22/men-are-experiencing-more-job-growth-than-women-in-ai-exposed-occupations/ found slower employment growth among women than men in occupations with greater AI exposure, especially without bachelor’s degrees. Multiple forces shape employment, but the difference should sharpen our attention to who receives practical training.
Gettysburg College could work with Adams County businesses to offer a simple test: give learners a real, anonymized task; ask them to complete it using AI; then introduce a plausible error or an unexpected customer request. Can they catch the mistake, explain their correction, and take responsibility for the result?
Publish how many participants can pass that second step, broken down by prior experience. Employers could help score it and offer supervised practice to those who need more time. The community would gain evidence of actual competence rather than another tally of workshops attended.
Gleb Tsipursky, PhD, a behavioral scientist, CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts, and author of The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work: From Resistance to Results (Georgetown University Press, 2026) https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/aibook