VSU hosts artificial intelligence event

Published 12:00 pm Thursday, November 23, 2017

VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University’s Office of Extended Learning recently hosted the Artificial Intelligence Symposium to explore how emerging technology is transforming higher education. 

The event examined what colleges and universities should expect in the future in regards to AI, which is the capability of machines to imitate intelligent human behavior, according to a VSU press release.

Participants gathered in person and virtually from across Georgia and the Southeast. The event featured speakers and panelists from VSU, the University System of Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Georgia State University.

“This is an excellent time to begin thinking about AI,” said Jon Sizemore, the USG assistant vice chancellor for distance learning. “There’s already quite a bit of work going on utilizing artificial intelligence to improve the student user experience and to improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of higher education.”

The Artificial Intelligence Symposium keynote speaker was Dr. David Joyner, a computer science lecturer at Georgia Tech and product lead at Udacity, an educational tech company. 

He discussed how AI is already being used at certain colleges and universities in the form of chatbots that answer common questions in large classes, give automated feedback on student exercises and help students transition from high school to college, according to the press release.

While AI is poised to bring significant improvements to higher education, Joyner said it also poses potential threats to student privacy and current jobs.

“There’s a lot of work we have to do to make sure the opportunities are realized and the threats are minimized,” he said. “Figuring out what works takes time.”

Joyner stressed the importance of remembering that education is a process, not a product, and said AI products should adjust to the needs of education instead of the other way around.

Joyner also presented the argument that, for the most part, AI and humans are not competing for higher education jobs. He believes AI will only improve — not replace — current education professions.

“The real value of AI in education comes from cooperation between humans and AI agents, not a competition to see what AI can do just as well as humans,” he said.

“There are things that AI does well, and there are things that humans do well. The real strength comes when we combine those.”