Artificial intelligence, specifically subsets of generative AI like ChatGPT, continues to be one of the most rapidly growing forms of technology which, if left to develop without guidance and understanding, can lead to catastrophic misuse of the tool.
Although there is no official school policy about AI in the classroom, The University of Mississippi has sought to combat misuse by forming a faculty task force to better understand how to both restrict and integrate the technology.
Composed of professors, data scientists, members of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and others, the task force analyzes research done in AI, determines what direction the university should take in response to AI advances and seeks grant and funding opportunities to further research and university programs.
Robert Cummings, executive director of academic innovation and associate professor of writing and rhetoric, chairs the task force.
“The goals of the task force are to build community and raise the profile of UM’s work in AI and data science around the missions of teaching, research and grantmaking,” Cummings said. “The task force typically meets on a quarterly basis to highlight research in pure and applied AI or DS by faculty and students, update the community on policy conversations, facilitate professional development for faculty and students and share news about external developments that impact the university.”
Overall, the task force wants to promote positive use and understanding of AI and prevent it from fully automating the learning environment. Academic Innovation Fellow and lecturer in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric Marc Watkins said that AI must be integrated into the academic setting carefully.
“I don’t want to see a future where students generate assignments and faculty use AI to assess them,” Watkins said. “Learning is above all a human endeavor, and we’re all going to need to consider how to ethically incorporate this technology so that it augments what we do, not replace it.”
One specific goal of the task force is to develop classes about AI and even potentially a major or minor in it. There are plans to add an emphasis in AI and data science in the digital media and data studies interdisciplinary minor. Cummings shared that the proposed emphasis could be available by the fall of 2024 and would include classes on AI fundamentals and ethics.
The task force also works to review faculty research on various aspects of AI as well as help integrate AI into the classroom when needed.
“There are many departments and individual faculty conducting research into many types of machine learning programs,” Watkins said. “I’ve helped lead the Department of Writing and Rhetoric’s efforts to integrate generative AI assistants into first-year writing courses.”
In order to facilitate this growth and take more action on campus, the committee must search for grants to support their efforts in researching AI and expanding programs related to its usage. Jason Hale, director of research development at the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and task force member, explained that the recent increase in AI research has exponentially increased funding opportunities.
“There are at least 200 current or projected funding opportunities welcoming grant or fellowship applications in or around the topic of artificial intelligence plus countless more where AI is not explicitly mentioned but could be allowed,” Hale said.
Another goal of the task force is promoting professional development, which can help UM professors better understand AI and how to use it as a tool in the classroom environment. One example of this professional development is the AI Institute for Teachers at UM, which was held last summer.
“Participants returned to their departments with enhanced capacity in AI literacy to teach students AI fundamentals, evaluate AI-generated content and develop educational applications and policies that explored proactive approaches to generative AI,” Watkins wrote in a recent blog post.
By constantly staying updated on AI advances and addressing concerns or questions about AI use, especially surrounding use of generative AI technologies like ChatGPT in the classroom, the university as a whole is able to more effectively adapt to the industry’s fast-paced changes.
“I believe that the task force will meet more frequently and will take an even more active role in helping faculty and students to adapt to the proliferation of generative AI,” Cummings said.
