Advancing Innovation & Outreach
Counseling in the Age of AI
The next generation of school counselors at Auburn University’s College of Education is learning to navigate a counseling landscape transformed by artificial intelligence, and they’re doing it through coursework that places ethics, critical thinking and human connection at the forefront.
“Preparing future school counselors to know about AI and emerging technologies is an essential component to ensuring they are ready to be in the school setting and workforce,” said Tuttle, coordinator of the college’s School Counseling Program.
Tuttle emphasized that technical familiarity alone isn’t enough; students must also learn the ethical and legal boundaries surrounding the use of AI, including confidentiality and privacy. Even first-year school counseling students are immersed in AI, learning how to incorporate it into the profession, including working with multilingual learners while keeping cultural, linguistic and ethical considerations in mind.
AI in the Classroom
McCall also introduces AI early in students’ training with an exercise that asks them to compare their own clinical reasoning to the logic generated by AI tools. After developing evidence-based treatment plans or classroom lesson plans in small groups, students in the Intro to Counseling Skills course (which includes counseling students from all three of Auburn’s counseling tracks — clinical mental health, school counseling and clinical rehabilitation counseling) run the same parameters through an AI program such as MagicSchool and analyze the differences.
McCall explained that the assignment gives students a realistic sense of where AI can assist and where it falls short. They see that while the technology might suggest structured plans quickly, its responses can sometimes lack nuance, contextual understanding or the flexibility required of trained counselors.
“This allows the students to gain experience creating counseling plans aligned with their clinical training, to see the disparities between what they have created and what AI has created including the weaknesses/inaccuracies of the AI output, and it encourages students to think critically about how they might be able to effectively incorporate AI into their practice someday while being cognizant of the potential weaknesses/downfalls of using AI,” he said.
McCall added: “We actively incorporate AI into classroom instruction when appropriate, recognizing that these technologies are here to stay. Clinical skills and professional competencies developed in our program, such as empathy, ethical decision-making and nuanced communication, cannot be replicated by AI.”
Research That Guides
The emphasis on AI is not limited to classroom exploration. Tuttle and McCall, along with Associate Professor David Marshall and College of Education alumna Katelyn Nelson, recently completed a national research study examining school counselors’ attitudes toward AI. More than 170 practicing counselors and school counseling master’s students participated between July and September.
The study explored perceptions of AI’s usefulness, ethical concerns, and readiness to adopt emerging technologies. The findings will help shape Auburn’s curriculum, grounding classroom discussions in national trends and real practitioner perspectives.
The team’s scholarship is also reaching broader audiences. Tuttle, McCall, Marshall, and Nelson recently presented their research at the Law and Ethics in Counseling Conference and the American School Counselor Association’s AI in School Counseling Home Event, positioning Auburn as a leader in the national conversation on AI and ethics in school counseling.
While Tuttle and McCall lead the core academic work, students also gain campus-wide insight into how AI is evolving. Nelson — a College of Education alumna who now works for Auburn’s Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning — visited Tuttle’s class in the fall to broaden the conversation. Students participated in exercises that addressed ethical, legal and practical considerations, including data privacy, FERPA compliance and the importance of humanizing digital content.
As students reflected on potential uses, they repeatedly underscored the primacy of human connection. Nelson agreed, affirming that “The human aspect is so important.” That said, she noted that AI tools streamline parts of her own professional workload, explaining that “AI saves me time on things like coding or producing a marketing newsletter.”
Nelson emphasized that learning to use AI responsibly is critical for new professionals and that meaningful discussions like this help future counselors understand both the promise and limits of emerging technologies.
The Human-Centered Approach
Tuttle said the key is to use AI as a tool to enhance and never replace the core fundamentals upon which the profession of school counseling is based.
“Education consistently evolves, and school counselors should be aware of how AI and technology are incorporated within the schools and the work of school counselors,” she said.
“However, just knowing about AI isn’t sufficient. In our school counseling courses, we focus on and discuss the ethical and legal considerations pertaining to students’ confidentiality and privacy within the practice of AI.”
And while facilitating practical skill-building and ensuring ethical standards guide every step, Auburn’s College of Education is shaping school counselors who are prepared not just to adapt to the future but to lead it.
“What sets our School Counseling Program apart is our commitment to preparing students not only with strong clinical skills but also with the knowledge to responsibly integrate emerging technologies like AI into their practice,” Tuttle said.