Written by: Yvette Gonzalez, Education Branch Manager, TMD/TXARNG Education and Incentives Office and Orrin Spence, Webmaster, TMD Public Affairs Office
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the higher education experience for administration, faculty and especially for students. Students receive accelerated answers, detailed outlines, a writing editor and a great study buddy with its ability to anticipate possible test questions. This rapid ascent of the paradoxical AI creates awe and apprehension, invoking anxieties about the security or insecurity of personal data, the cognitive decline from the dependence on technology and the incessant drive for efficiency over ethical concerns. Professors are faced with an alarming rate of students dismissing academic honesty, integrity and originality for the sake of convenience and efficiency. What are we willing to give up in exchange for this compelling convenience? While indisputable that AI is a valuable tool of learning and discovery, if we outsource our education to AI, then how will students develop critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills? Humans are still the source of creativity and innovation that drive progress. It’s the human experience, not AI, that teaches the essential life lessons of discipline and discernment which grow from the ashes of pain, struggle and hardship. What does this algorithm-driven tool, dependent on patterns of data instead of true understanding, know about humility, compassion, selfless service and resilience? AI lacks moral reasoning, empathy, a conscience and essentially human emotion. AI-coded responses can validate fed assumptions, and repeat gaps in knowledge, bias and errors convincingly. What can AI teach us about hope or the human condition, both vital concepts in leading ethical progress? AI has no “skin in the game,” and faces no real-world accountability for its errors. While students’ mastery of AI can certainly help them become employable and efficient subject matter experts in their field, it is a moral imperative to connect that learning with purpose and our individual and collective values that strengthen humanity. Humanity is at the very core of public service, partnerships, collaboration and taking care of our people. Ultimately, AI remains a tool to support and enhance human potential, not replace it. As we navigate through these evolving complexities, let us proceed with cautious and mindful optimism as active participants, rather than witnesses, in shaping the future we wish to inhabit and leave our children.
Here are 6 books on Artificial Intelligence to educate yourself about the new tech sector:
- "AI 2041: 10 Visions for Our Future," Authors: Chen Qiufan, Kai-Fu Lee
- "A World Without Work: Technology, Automation and How We Should Respond in 2020," Author: Daniel Susskind
- "The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values," Author: Brian Christian
- "2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity," Author: John Lennox
- "A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: What It Is, Where We Are and Where We Are Going," Author: Michael Wooldridge
- "Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World," Author: Meredith Broussard
Any opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and are not intended to represent the views or positions of the agency.