Iona Students Launch AI Club to Explore its Evolving Role in Learning, Work and Life
Members of AI in Real Life share the belief that developing AI literacy at the undergraduate level will prove beneficial in life beyond the classroom.
As Iona University continues to be a leading voice in the conversation surrounding artificial intelligence’s place in higher education, a group of its students have embraced their role as ambassadors to educate and inspire their peers.
Appropriately named AI in Real Life, the club serves a dual-purpose mission: to educate members of the Iona community — more specifically students — on the multitude of resources made accessible by AI and to create a supportive environment for aspiring AI entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life.
“That is the reason we are here,” club founder, president and finance major C.J. Moriarty ‘28 said. “Because we want to teach people that there are right ways to use AI. There are ways we can use it to help people. We want to teach our peers how to make it beneficial.”
Beyond skill-building, the club emphasizes the role of human creativity and decision-making in AI development, encouraging students to see the technology as a tool rather than a replacement for independent thought. The club builds upon the University's work around embracing AI while engaging in broader discussions about the history, evolution and future of the new technology.
Students at Iona are encouraged to see AI as a tool rather than a replacement for independent thought.
“AI is driven by the human mind,” club member and computer science major Thomas Johnson ‘28 said. “AI is only as good as what you make it. And I think that's why we're called ‘AI in Real Life,’ because AI is this big topic, this big idea, but once you really get down to it, the meat of the product comes out from the human mind. We are teaching people that you can do AI for whatever you want. It is up to you and up to your creativity.”
As part of its outreach efforts, AI in Real Life fosters intentional discussions about the practical applications of various AI platforms and tools, helping students understand how each can be used in academic and professional contexts.
“AI can be the most beneficial thing for you,” Moriarty said. “I use Perplexity, which is the best for research. I have probably saved myself upwards of 18 hours just in research alone by using Perplexity. ChatGPT is better at Sheets and then Claude is the best for coding right now.”
While promoting AI fluency, the organization also addresses common concerns surrounding the technology, particularly its potential risks when used without proper understanding or oversight.
“I think (AI) can be dangerous because it will either give you a 100% correct or a 100% wrong answer,” Moriarty said. “It is only dangerous in the hands that it is used by…that is why we also talk about news and AI.”
Rob Kissner, Faculty Advisor & Clinical Lecturer
Faculty advisor Rob Kissner noted the club’s contributions to the ongoing discourse surrounding AI, noting that the group is taking a mature approach towards both building fluency and spreading awareness.
“They are taking the ethical implications of this whole thing very seriously and exploring what that's going to mean for their jobs, what that means for learning and what that means for society,” Kissner said. “They are really approaching this from a mature, well-rounded standpoint, and I am proud to see students from engaging in the conversation at a level that I think it needs.”
With the risks of promoting ethical use of AI in mind, the club takes a firm stance against academic dishonesty and emphasizes ethical use of AI tools in coursework.
“We do not condone cheating,” Moriarty said. “AI can be the most beneficial thing for you. If you are using (AI) to blatantly cheat on an assignment, when you are given every answer in a way that you can just use your own brain to formulate together, that is where you are being harmful to yourself.”
Members of AI in Real Life share the belief that developing AI literacy at the undergraduate level will prove beneficial in life beyond the classroom.
“When you graduate college, you are going to use (AI) every day,” Moriarty said. “At least I hope, and I theorize that to be. It's so beneficial for you to look at AI as a resource. So I want to take away this whole outlook of, ‘people who use it are lazy,’ and show that it's actually the opposite.”
AI in Real Life convenes twice each week, using the first meeting as time to collaborate on the club’s ongoing group project and the latter time allocation to work on each member’s individual project.
Winners of the Fall 2025 Iona hackathon, the group successfully created a student-focused AI calendar companion, along with a chatbot plugin compatible with the University’s website.
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of over 4,000 students and an alumni base of 55,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Nursing & Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona also continues to be recognized in prestigious national rankings. Most recently for 2025, Iona has been named one of the nation’s best colleges by The Princeton Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and others. Additionally, U.S. News & World Report recognized Iona as one of top for social mobility in the country, while Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) ranked an Iona degree in the top 6 percent nationally for long-term return on investment. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business, meanwhile, is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just 6 percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review once again named Iona to its “Best Business Schools for 2025,” recognizing both its on-campus and online MBA programs. Connecting to its Irish heritage, Iona also opened a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland, located on the historic 400-acre Westport House Estate. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.