AI described as ‘a great genie left out of the bottle’ at conference in Limerick city

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) was described as “a very big genie out of the bottle” at a two-day conference in Limerick city looking at the tool and its use in academia.

The complex relationship between generative AI and academic integrity in the Higher Education (HE) sector was explored at an event that kicked off at the Clayton Hotel this Monday, October 14th.

The Navigating the New Frontier: Generative AI and Academic Integrity conference is organized in partnership by Mary Immaculate College (MIC), University of Limerick (UL) and Shannon Technological University (TUS), and is in association with the National Academic Integrity Network .

Professor Niamh Hourigan, Interim President of the MIC, highlighted the need for urgency in understanding how AI will shape the field of higher education: “I think the critical issue is the issue of time. With the emergence of ChatGPT in 2022, a genius very big came out of the bottle,” she said.

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“It is in the nature of academics to research, test, consider, reflect before we make pronouncements; that is why we are academics. Before we make pronouncements about this seismic shift, however, the problem is that we really don’t have that time.

“Our academic colleagues are actively demanding real-time guidance on how to manage the challenges of generative AI in terms of academic integrity, because the economies and societies we serve are now asking graduates to use generative AI as a tool in rather than simply running away from it.”

The conference included ideas and discussions around generative AI, including fair use, equity of access, originality, design for the classroom and assessment, and policy development and implementation.

Participants included academics, students, professional support staff and policy makers – with a mix of on-site and online registrations.

Conference organizers 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 explore and consider how generative AI could shape our classrooms, our policies, the work of our staff and the future of our students, as we begin to question what the adoption of this type of technology in the sector might look like. of Higher Education.

“The conference committee is really looking forward to collectively engaging on the interesting and complex issues at stake.”

Monday’s keynote speaker was Dr Christine O’Dea from King’s College London, who gave a talk titled ‘Generation 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 Age of AIED.’

The event will include conference presentations and a roundtable panel discussion. This two-day conference is funded by the National Forum for Improving Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.