Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing various aspects of our lives, and its influence on education and careers is no exception. As AI technology continues to advance, both professors and students are contemplating its potential impacts on learning as a tool and its implications for future career paths. While AI offers numerous benefits, there are also concerns about its potential drawbacks, leading to diverse perspectives on whether it is ultimately a positive or negative force.
For professors, AI holds promise in streamlining administrative tasks and facilitating research endeavors. Some professors will tell you that they are either for AI or against it. For those professors who are against it, they will say that nothing can be better than what a human can do and that your essays aren’t original and thus they will be flagged for cheating and plagiarism. Although it is true that students can abuse AI and use it to their advantage, the direction of AI is something that we cannot get ahead of.
Professor Greg Golda teaches classes focusing on Democratic Technologies, Comics, Animation, Multimedia Field Production, and TV Studio Production, for the School of Communications and Media Arts here at SHU. His courses are project-based and engage students of all majors in the creation of media texts with multiple digital tools. I was allowed to Speak with Professor Golda about his thoughts on AI.
Q: What do you say when people use the remark, “AI is going to take over my job”?
Professor Golda: That could very well be true because any dynamic technology is going to make certain things obsolete and automation has been, you know, crawling into every facet of our lives for 200 years. That’s how long the Industrial Revolution has been going on. And, if you’re not staying current, then, yeah, you could get paved over.
Q: How do you personally use AI in your life, in and out of the classroom?
Professor Golda: I consider myself an artist. So, when I create, I think it’s incredibly important that I originate ideas. So I think of AI as a tool that might give me new avenues to explore.
Q: How would you say AI is kind of hurting our education? In terms of plagiarizing and cheating?
Professor Golda: Every technology that comes along can be seen as an opportunity for people to exploit it and Gain benefit from it. It’s learning how to use it as a tool instead of a solution where people get confused. Right now The New York Times is suing OpenAI for billions of dollars because they have over 100 examples of chat GPT spitting out verbatim text from New York Times articles and not attributing the New York Times. So there’s these chat GPT things, they’re being sold as these independent brains that take all this information and create something new. But what the New York Times can prove is that they have examples where it’s not true. It’s not changing anything at all. It’s simply taking content from what it’s trained on and giving it as an answer.
In conclusion, it is clear that artificial intelligence (AI) has a significant impact on professions and education as we navigate this new era of technology. While artificial intelligence (AI) has great potential to improve learning, expedite processes, and open up new possibilities, it also comes with drawbacks and moral dilemmas. Diverse viewpoints exist about artificial intelligence (AI). While some welcome its potential for transformation, others raise ethical and job security concerns.
Conducting interviews Professor Greg Golda gave insightful explanations of the advantages and disadvantages of artificial intelligence in education. His viewpoint emphasizes how crucial it is to keep up with technology developments and use AI as a tool for creativity and invention. But he also draws attention to the dangers of AI abuse, especially with regard to plagiarism and unethical behavior.
