The question of what role generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) should play in education is a big and complicated one. Stanford University is among the institutions taking a hard look at what to do with GenAi. To get an evidence-based grip on the technology the university launched the program, AI Meets Education at Stanford (AIMES).
A key leader in the initiative is Michele Elam, one of two new senior associate vice provosts for undergraduate education. Her university positions connected to GenAI include Senior Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, the William Robertson Coe Professor of Humanities, a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), and a Race & Technology Affiliate at the Stanford Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity. Two of her favorite terms are “evidenced-based” and “evidence-driven.”
Her explanation of what AIMES is all about: “As our teaching and learning community considers whether, how, and when to use AI in courses, it is essential to do so within the broader context of Stanford’s enduring mission prioritizing open inquiry and ethical citizenship. We also recognize that AIMES’s work occurs within the context of often wildly conflicting information about the possibilities, limitations, and harms of artificial intelligence. Therefore, one of our new initiatives includes helping the campus community navigate and evaluate all this incoming by becoming a resource for the latest, most thoroughly vetted research and scholarship on AI and education – leveraging especially the expertise on campus – to help educators and students make the most critically informed, evidence-driven decisions and choices about AI.”
How this is playing out in different disciplines and different courses across Stanford is a mixed bag. In some instances GenAI is encouraged, for a few applications it is flatly prohibited, in a few other circumstances GenAI is allowed within clearly-defined limits and with a high level of disclosure and transparency. This is a work in progress.
“AIMES makes it easier for faculty to share ideas and approaches to encouraging or restricting AI use in their courses,” said Jay Hamilton, the Freeman-Thornton Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. “As AI evolves, faculty are changing class policies and assignments.”
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