Learning Faster Than the System: A Student’s Perspective on AI with Ronan Shultz
From Smarter Campus Podcast by Zach Kinzler
March 23, 2026 · 26 min · Episode 54
About this episode
Zach Kinzler interviews finance student Ronan Shultz about the practical use of AI in education and its impact on learning.
In this episode of The Smarter Campus Podcast , Zach sits down with Ronan Shultz, a finance student at the University of Utah, to explore how students are actually using AI to learn, build, and move faster than traditional systems allow. This conversation offers a grounded, student-first perspective on what AI adoption really looks like on the ground. Ronan shares how AI has become a personalized learning partner—helping him translate ideas into code, accelerate research, and tackle projects that would typically require years of experience. Rather than replacing effort, he describes a continuous feedback loop between himself, AI, and his professors—where critical thinking and validation remain essential to the process. The episode also highlights a growing disconnect between how students are using AI outside the classroom and how it’s being addressed within it. For educators and administrators, this conversation is a reminder that students are already building with these tools—and that the opportunity now is to shift from controlling usage to guiding it.
People in this episode
Guest: Ronan Shultz
Topics covered
- AI
- education
- student perspective
- personalized learning
- technology
Keywords
- AI adoption
- student-first perspective
- critical thinking
- feedback loop
Mentioned in this episode
Products: AI tools
Books & works: The Smarter Campus Podcast
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