Unbridled Potential: Harnessing Generative AI in Higher Education

The stampede of ChatGPT in November 2021 began a wild ride that caught most of us in higher education off guard and knocked us off our metaphorical academic horse. Its rapid advancement feels like trying to control a bucking bronco as it forcefully kicks its way into our offices, classrooms, and lives, challenging us to discover how to best employ its power and unpredictable nature. 

While higher education is not the wild west, we still find ourselves struggling with how to form this wild "horse" to work for us rather than against us. Like the experienced cowboy who sees potential in a wild bronco, we recognize power in the use of generative AI tools in the classroom. We need only to determine how to effectively secure it as an advantage for students, faculty, and the university as a whole.

AI Pioneers

Cowboy riding bucking bronco in corral with technology symbols and imagery in background.
Image Created by Lisa Burgess and DALL-E on ChatGPT

My first task when I joined the BU community last year was to begin researching and developing resources for generative AI in higher education, primarily for faculty use in teaching. It was not long until I faced my first hurdle, there are no evidenced-based best practices in the traditional sense. This means faculty today are the pioneers in developing those methods.

Leveraging generative AI in the classroom has already become an integral part of higher education. Incorporating it into our own work, assisting students in developing AI skills, and exploring innovative educational applications serves to strengthen our commitment as educators as well as aligns with the priorities of the BU strategic plan. We will need to redefine objectives and adapt assessment criteria to enlist the skills students will require upon graduation. The intimidating aspect of these tasks is only the pace at which they need to be achieved.

A Powerful Tool

Just as a wild bronco becomes part of a team, generative AI too can be employed as a powerful educational tool. Exploration and familiarization with its potential capabilities in order to develop innovative, creative, and intentional ways to engage students in its use are all positive strategies. We also must continue addressing and identifying bias, privacy concerns, copyright infringement, and security risks these tools have already demonstrated.

Although we may not be the initiators of these tools, we should aspire to be the models of their ethical and responsible use.  

 

At times the speed and force of this technology seems unrelenting, yet in the end it is just a tool, albeit a powerful one. Even in the dominating presence of generative AI, responsible use ultimately  lies within the ethical and moral compass of the end user. The AI bronco shouldn’t be left to tear down fences and destroy the farm, instead it should be molded, guided, and conditioned to work for the greater good. Together we are “training the trainer” by providing the first generation of students graduating into the AI-embodied workforce the skills, tools, and values needed to be positive and effective leaders of this evolving technology. I believe BU is ready to embrace this role and “get back on the horse”.


About the Author:

Lisa Burgess Headshot

Lisa Burgess, Assistant Director for the Center for Teaching & Learning