AI Week at AU: Taskforce findings show wide range of attitudes toward AI

Members of Alfred University's AI Taskforce lead a panel discussion Tuesday as part of AI Week at AU.

Approximately, two-thirds of Alfred University faculty members omit explicit references to AI in their syllabi, according to polling conducted by an AI Taskforce. Twenty-two percent permit the use of AI in some cases, and 12 percent prohibit it entirely in their classes.

Meanwhile, syllabus references to the University's academic conduct code, which forbids unattributed, illicit uses of AI, are common.

That range of attitudes toward AI was the subject of a panel discussion hosted by the AI Taskforce Tuesday, as part of AI Week at AU. The week included 11 public discussions of various aspects of AI, including an address by returning Alfred University alumnus Matthew Versaggi '86, who serves as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow in AI and works in what he has called "the AI space."

On Friday, the discussions continue, with an 11:20 am lecture by Professor John Simmins, Director of GE Vernova Advanced Power Grid Lab, in the Inamori School of Engineering, New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University; and a panel discussion at 12:20, Pondering Pedagogy.

Tuesday's Taskforce discussion included an overview of research into AI practices on the Alfred University campus. The practices vary widely with some academic divisions forbidding the use of AI while other divisions accept AI-generated research and data. If there were a common element to understanding the role of AI in education, according to Associate Professor of Information Systems, College of Business, Yavuz Keceli, it may be an acceptance of AI "only as a tool."

Couple that with caution, Kecili added. "AI makes things up."

Members of the Taskforce include Co-Chairs Dean Gabby Gaustad, Inamori School of Engineering, and Associate Provost of Curriculum, Learning Assessment, and Accreditation Jean Cardinale; Keceli; Director of Foundations, School of Art & Design, Trevor Bennett, and Collections Management Librarian Maria Planansky.

Their presentation reviewed work by four subcommittees working on: Academic Integrity and AI; Educational Possibilities of AI/Ethics/Philosophy; Learning Objectives and Curriculum; and Teaching with AI.

The Taskforce has been charged with:

• Developing a set of University-wide policies and guidelines for using AI.
• Working with faculty, deans, and the associate provost to develop a map for curricular innovations in the area of AI
• Exploring how best to create and conduct discussions about the pedagogical ramifications of AI; delineating AI-related topics and/or questions; and proposing processes for developing AI-related policies and recommendations.