Thanks to everyone who came out for last Friday’s “AI’s Educational Impact: SLALS Faculty Share Experiences” discussion in 306 Saint Patrick’s. Such a great cross-section of folks from across the School really gave rise to some rich and diverse conversations about the impacts, both positive and negative, of generative AI on the daily realities of academic life.
The event, hosted and moderated by ESLA instructor and SLALS Faculty Teaching Mentor, Don Myles, opened with a short presentation about the evolution of generative AI from the early days of ELIZA to the more recent exponential growth of the past twelve months. – That’s right, it has only been a year since ChatGPT was first launched! – In addition to sharing seminal moments from this evolution, Don presented a range of generative AI tools that are finding serious traction in academia: ChatGPT, Elicit, and Litmaps to name a few.
Following the presentation, participants broke into small groups to discuss a variety of AI themes: personal experiences with AI, AI in the classroom, and AI and academic integrity. Discussions were lively with each faculty member bringing their own teaching and/or research lens to the conversation; some expressing concerns for the possible misuse of the technology; some calling for openness to its benefits for research, education, and accessibility; most seeing both sides of the issue and interested in exploring it further.
With this in mind, Don also put out a call to those planning to incorporate AI into their courses: let him know what you’re considering so he can start working on a logical follow-up session for the winter term. Got ideas? Contact him at Don.Myles@carleton.ca.
Another challenge Don presented was a sort of a Turing test. Give it a try!
Can you tell which of the following fictional reference letters was written by a human?