The software industry is clamoring for computer science undergraduates to know how to “Use AI” for software development. But it isn’t clear what “Using AI” entails, especially as the technology rapidly evolves. While industry has created this narrative, it is educators that must drive it to its conclusion by identifying specific skills graduates need to effectively use present-day AI tools and foundational principles that will help graduates use AI tools in the future. There are many ideas proposed about what the future of programming looks like, from prompt engineering to agentic/cybernetic programming, but little consensus as to what students ought to learn. Because the landscape is constantly evolving, continued discussion is necessary for educators to keep up or stay ahead of these changes.

In this Birds of a feather session, we will have a conversation about the current state of generative AI in software development, define what it means for our graduates to “Use AI” in software engineering, and how we can best equip our students with these skills. We invite both “seasoned” educators that have established ideas and practices for introducing students to AI as it pertains to software development and “new” educators that are looking for ways to introduce these concepts in their pedagogy. We aim to have this session spur further discussion in the SIGCSE community that will, hopefully and eventually, result in established standards and practices regarding AI education for undergraduate software developers.