(The Center Square) – North Carolina’s university system plans to hire a person to lead its strategy on artificial intelligence, President Peter Hans told the governing board Thursday.
The chief AI officer will help colleges integrate the technology into their learning, research and day-to-day operations.
Hans believes in AI’s potential to accelerate discoveries, particularly in science and health care, but he isn’t without concern.
“For all the very real possibilities of progress, there is also good reason to be concerned about the impact of artificial intelligence,” he said. “The same tools that promise to advance our understanding of the world also threaten to overwhelm our ability to find true knowledge in a sea of questionable information.”
“I worry too that for every promise AI holds for teaching and learning, it poses an equal threat to motivation and mental effort,” Hans said.
He cited students handing off difficult learning to a chatbot.
“It’s one thing to make use of an AI tool when you’ve already had years of experience honing your mind and work ethic,” Hans said. “But having access to a mental shortcut from your earliest days as a student – an easy button that you can press any time things get tough, well that’s a tempting invitation to mediocrity.”
Many colleges and universities across the United States are studying or have already implemented AI elements on their campuses.
A study by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and Elon University conducted late last year, found that 44% of schools surveyed have already created AI-specific courses.
The purpose of requiring college students to write research papers is not to produce more research papers, Hans said.
“You write papers in college so you get better in thinking and understanding,” he said. “As one writer put it, using ChatGPT to complete all your assignments is like bringing a forklift to a gym. You kind of miss the point of the gym.”
