Tonight I watched the QM Connect Conference session “The Future of AI: Shaping the Next Generation of Education.” The panelists included Roxana Medieros, Megan Van Buskirk, Jason Neiffer, Rob Gibson, and Siobahn Grady. The first question was: what do you think the role of AI will be in higher education? Van Buskirk spoke about using AI for quiz creation and summaries. As a faculty member, Van Buskirk noted that AI can help providing feedback and learned from students that they thought it was very personal. Neiffer then explained that they believe massive transformations are going to come. Neiffer thinks that what is going to happen will fundamentally change how teaching and learning works. Grady agreed with the other panelists and views AI as a tool and thinks that the “digital divide” will affect use. Grady emphasized the ethical considerations for responsible use of AI and warned about deep fakes. AI use will vary, and cost and access will be important considerations. Gibson noted that training of faculty and students will require proper use of AI. Van Buskirk and Grady spoke about encouraging students to learn processes and that AI still requires human oversight. Neiffer stressed the importance of teaching critical thinking. Use of AI tools could expand creativity and critical thinking. Gibson recognized that there are plagiarism concerns and opportunities to use large language models for improving critical thinking and responsible innovation. Gibson advocated for a first-year course on ethical use of AI on all campuses. This made me think about the role of ethical reasoning and argumentation in first-year courses. Neiffer noted that campuses limit paid tools and instructors/students then use free versions with fewer information protections. Grady encouraged campus initiatives such as AI use committees that start tough conversations. Van Buskirk explained that some institutional challenges continue to affect implementation.
