WVU Graphic Two WVU researchers, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, are bringing the social, ethical, and technical aspects of artificial intelligence (used to create this illustration) to liberal arts classrooms. I’m leading an effort to investigate.
MORGANTOWN — Two West Virginia University researchers have designed a curriculum that engages liberal arts faculty in discussions about the social, ethical and technical aspects of artificial intelligence and its role in the classroom.
Through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences assistant professor of English Erin Brock Carlson and professor of philosophy Scott Davidson designed an interdisciplinary and cross-institutional program to advance the research of both. Conversations among faculty about the strengths and weaknesses of AI, its capabilities, and the need for human interpretation.
The award will fund a summer workshop where Carlson and Davidson will provide AI training for humanities faculty and guide them in creating and developing courses with AI components. Researchers assist faculty in delivering those courses to students, evaluate progress, and assist in implementing evolving projects.
The researchers said they wanted to challenge the notion that artificial intelligence research belongs to the realm of STEM fields.
“The humanities are often ignored and undervalued.” Carlson said. “Like our colleagues in STEM and other fields, we are conducting important and meaningful research. This is an opportunity to use a humanities lens to examine contemporary issues and developments such as artificial intelligence. , it’s also an opportunity to advance conversations between disciplines that often don’t talk to each other.”
Submitted Photo Erin Brock Carlson, WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Assistant Professor of English.
Co-directors Carlson and Davidson will be joined by a team of mentors and fellows, two from data science and two from humanities perspectives, who will serve as a resource for and support interdisciplinary conversations. Seminars and summer workshops support the creation or redesign of 10 courses. They plan to invite outside experts to facilitate workshops, collaborate with faculty, and support the project.
“What’s really important is that universities and humanities students are able to explore the impact of AI and actually use AI in humanities courses, such as writing, creating works of art, and creating projects using AI. to expand its capabilities.” Davidson said. “We’re looking forward to a lot of different possibilities and directions for these courses. If we had 10 of them, they would have a huge impact on humanities education here at the university.”
Carlson and Davidson acknowledge that attitudes toward AI tend to be either very optimistic or very skeptical, but the reality is somewhere in between.
“AI is a very simple term to describe a whole suite of different technologies and developments that people work on every day, whether they know it or not.” Carlson noted that discussions could focus on the personal, social, and economic impacts of the use of AI, and how it affects personality and intellectual values.
Davidson first turned to AI when he came across an incorrect AI-generated summary of one of his articles.
Submitted photo Scott Davidson, WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Professor of Philosophy.
“It was a total mistake.” he said. “I didn’t say that, and it made me think that someone might look me up and find that summary of my article and give me the wrong impression. This clearly demonstrated the need for deeper exploration and the need for students to understand that they must be able to assess the accuracy and reliability of AI.”
Carlson and Davidson said the conversation also needs to consider the shortcomings of AI. Using AI consumes large amounts of water and electricity, and produces greenhouse gas emissions. Data centers generate electronic waste that can contain mercury and lead.
They also intend to follow suit and precedent surrounding the use of AI.
“This is another aspect of AI and how it represents humans.” Carlson said. “Because it has a very real, material impact on people in the community. It’s not just about having a supercomputer in a room. That’s the value of the humanities: to ask these difficult questions because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to avoid them all.
As the conversation expands, we need to keep up with the rapid pace of development in AI.
“A lot of people are going to be involved in this case.” she said. “We have put together a great team, and we want to make it an open, honest and ethical conversation that involves others and brings further conversations across the college and university.”
