Ever since the 1950s, humans have sought to harness the transformative power of artificial intelligence, or AI.
British World War II codebreaker Alan Turing and computer scientist Arthur Samuel are considered pioneers in the field. The technology – defined as the ability for computer systems to perform tasks normally reserved for humans – has come a long way since Samuel developed a computer program to play checkers in 1952. AI is as accessible as ever now with programs and software able to produce images and written works with just a few prompting words.
Forbes says companies are using AI technology for tasks like cybersecurity and fraud management as well as customer service. That little chatbox that pops up on the corner of some websites asking how it can help? Some operate through AI programs, finding answers to customers’ questions without them having to place a phone call.
Georgia College & State University, in an effort to keep its students on pace with developing AI technology, recently introduced its new AI Lab through the university’s J. Whitney Bunting College of Business & Technology.
“The president, the provost, my deans, and my department chair are absolutely on the forefront of innovation,” said Dr. Ward Risvold, GCSU’s AI Lab director and business communications lecturer. “They do that with the students in mind. We want our learners to be able to compete on the market when they leave here because AI is not going away.”
Risvold added that the lab, currently housed on the fourth floor of Atkinson Hall, will serve as a hub for students, faculty, and guest lecturers to research where the technology is heading and how it can best be applied. That is expected to extend out into the community as well through workshops with area businesses and local government entities, in addition to AI/STEM-related activities in Baldwin County schools.
“The emerging technologies inherent to AI will have a fundamental impact on the workplace,” said GCSU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Costas Spirou in a statement from the school. “This new lab is an excellent example of the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit central to a public liberal arts education as we adapt and seek out new ways to ensure our students are prepared for the opportunities, challenges and possibilities ahead.”
AI can be a difficult subject to tackle around college campuses. Programs like ChatGPT can run afoul of academic honesty policies if students use them to complete written assignments. Risvold is “very specific” in his classes when telling his pupils what uses of artificial intelligence are acceptable and which ones are not. The lab will be helpful in that regard as well.
“We can’t teach students how to use it as a crutch or content creator,” he said. “I think it’s critical that our students learn to be productive and ethical when they use AI.”
The line, according to Risvold, lies in using AI for identification purposes versus correction. For example, using a program to pick out weak sentences in written work. Rather than having the program fix the sentence itself, the student should instead go back to the well and find better wording on their own.
“The student is basically using it as a tutor,” Risvold said. “The reason I do it that way is because we are a university. We don’t want to send students away with the inability to think critically, with the inability to communicate on the fly, or to be able to discern good writing from bad. We have an obligation to teach ethical AI. That is our absolute mission. We can’t have innovation without ethics.”
GCSU’s AI Lab is set to have its first big event on Feb. 7 when retired CIA senior director Greg Lane comes and speaks on AI’s uses and other topics surrounding the technology. He’s one of the lab’s six preliminary advisory board members who all have experience in the field of AI.
