“AI is everywhere. It’s coming at us like a freight train, whether we like it or not,” Camille Dempsey, the future head of the Center for AI and Emerging Technologies said.
Following the announcement from PennWest eNews last week, Pennsylvania Western University will be launching a new program focused on the use of AI in education. The program, Dempsey said in a Zoom interview, will be a collaborative multi-campus effort. Dempsey remarked that her office will continue to be located on Pennsylvania Western University’s Edinboro campus. The classes offered through the program will be available to students online, but further details are unavailable at this time.
“We’re aiming to help others understand and navigate the use of AI,” Dempsey said. “We want to emphasize a mindful and responsible use of AI.”
Dempsey encourages students to take an interest in learning about AI and join the program. She said that students from all departments, whether they are in the sciences or more liberal arts, are welcome to be a part of the program.
“We want all students to be able to collaborate and understand this technology better,” Dempsey said. “I told them coming into this program that I wanted it to be largely collaborative.”
Dempsey continued to discuss a variety of ways in which students are already interacting with AI. Students and educators alike have access to AI tools on a regular basis that often are looked over.
“We have assistants in our pockets,” said Dempsey. “Educators can run a student’s paper through plagiarism detection software. We don’t think about it, but it’s in our future.”
Dempsey mentioned other technologies students should look out for, such as humanoid robots and creations like Telsa’s Optimus robot. Dempsey said it is important for younger audiences and students take an interest in this technology.
Students may also have opportunities to work with Dempsey on further research. Dempsey confirmed that several students, both undergrad and doctorate, have reached out with interest in the program. Dempsey is continuing her research in the intersections of human communication and technology.
Students in some fields, however, still have their reservations about the use of AI. Students in the Information Sciences, who are largely graduate students, have run into issues with the use of AI both on campus and in the workplace.
“What sort of metadata does an AI retain? How is it organized? What sort of metadata schema is at work?” student, Madison Manuel questioned. “There doesn’t seem to be any kind of authority control, and these models have little to no oversight.”
“I was reading something that interviewed a bunch of librarians about generative AI, and a librarian brought up the importance of ‘AI literacy,’ and how this is the biggest hurdle we’re gonna be facing as information professionals,” Rachel Cox, another information science student said.
Dempsey remained positive throughout the Zoom interview and invited further questions and interest in the program.
Dempsey said, “We want students from other programs to interact with this technology. We want philosophy students to question the ethics, we want law students to explore legislation, we want journalism and writing students to have access to it.”
