Universities adapt to increasing popularity of artificial intelligence – WIBW

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Educators are learning to adapt to an increasingly complex educational landscape as artificial intelligence evolves rapidly.
A-I does have the potential to be a useful new tool for educators and their students, however, it doesn’t come without implications.
“In the context of AI in general, there’s a number of concerns,” says David Rubenstein, law professor at Washburn University. “One is about privacy. One is about bias. One is about transparency and safety.”
Moreover, he worries that policymakers aren’t positioned to keep up with AI’s rapid evolution.
“Even if our policymakers were up to speed, which they’re not, then even if they were up to speed today, they might not be next week or in a month because the technology is moving so quickly,” says Rubenstein. “So that’s a concern. Then you add on top of that, that the legislative process wasn’t made to work at the types of speed that we’re now experiencing and seeing with AI technologies.”
The same problems exist for educational institutions, who, without broader AI regulation, must decide for themselves how to deal with the technology.
That’s why Washburn’s faculty senate formed a team of professors tasked with building an AI policy.
Dr. Carson Kay, associate professor of communication studies, leads that team. She says since AI isn’t going anywhere, it’s time to adapt.
“So now the question becomes how do we adapt our educational style and our educational approaches to incorporate it into the classroom,” says Kay. “At this point, we really have a conversation about the ethics of using AI right, what is considered reasonable use of this technology and what could potentially be problematic for students from an academic impropriety perspective. So truly, at this point, we know that it’s here the question becomes where do we go now?”
She says instead of rejecting AI, Washburn is embracing it.
“At this point, we’re really trying to think about if we have this technology here and if students are going to use it, especially given the fact that we don’t really have a way to detect it consistently,” she says. “How can we shift how we’ve perceived education and the use of writing to perhaps include that technology? Rather than exclude it?”
Washburn University does not currently have an but Dr. Kay does hope her team will have one by the end of the semester.
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