AI described as 'a large genie left out of a bottle' at one Limerick city-based conference
Generative AI and academic integrity within the Higher Education sector explored over two-day event
ARTIFICAL intelligence (AI) was described as "a very large genie was let out of the bottle" at a two-day Limerick city-based conference, which looks at the tool and its use in academia.
The complex relationship between generative AI and academic integrity within the Higher Education (HE) sector was explored at an event which kicked off at the Clayton Hotel this Monday, October 14.
The Navigating the New Frontier: Generative AI and Academic Integrity conference is hosted in partnership by Mary Immaculate College (MIC), University of Limerick (UL) and Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), and is in association with the National Academic Integrity Network.
Professor Niamh Hourigan, acting president of MIC, highlighted the need for urgency in understanding how AI will shape the higher education field: "I think the critical issue is the question of time. With the emergence of ChatGPT in 2022, a very large genie was let out of the bottle," she said.
"It’s the nature of academics to research, to test, to consider, to reflect before we make pronouncements; that’s why we’re academics. Before making pronouncements on this seismic shift though, the problem is that we don’t really have that time.
"Our academic colleagues are actively demanding guidance in real time as to how to manage the challenges of generative AI in terms of academic integrity, because the economies and societies that we serve are now asking for graduates that use generative AI as a tool instead of simply running away from it."
The conference included ideas and debates around generative AI including acceptable use, equity of access, originality, designing for the classroom and assessment, and policy development and implementation.
Attendees included academics, students, professional support staff and policy developers—with a mix of onsite and online registrations.
Conference organisers, Dr Katherine Whitehurst, director of teaching and learning at MIC, and Dr Mary-Claire Kennedy, academic integrity lead at UL, said the aim of the event was "to hopefully move the conversation forward".
"We will get to explore and consider how Generative AI might shape our classrooms, our policies, our staff’s work and our students’ futures, as we begin to question what the adoption of this type of technology might look like in the Higher Education sector.
"The conference committee is really looking forward to collectively engaging with the interesting and complex issues at play."
Monday’s keynote speaker was Dr Christine O'Dea of King's College London, who delivered a talk entitled ‘Gen AI is here to stay. What is the way forward for higher education globally?’ and on Tuesday, Dr Daniel S. Schiff of Purdue University is scheduled to speak on ‘Dilemmas in the AI-enabled classroom: Navigating pedagogy, ethics, and transformation in the era of AIED’.
The event will include conference presentations and a roundtable panel discussion. This two-day conference is funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.