Using AI Well & Wisely

If you Google, “Should we fear artificial intelligence (AI)?” AI itself will compile answers from articles across the internet and tell you what you might already know: “The debate over whether to fear AI is complex.”

Justin Marquis, director of Instructional Design and Delivery, not only believes we shouldn’t be afraid of this rapidly developing technology, but that we need to embrace it.

And he’s not the only one.

Integrating AI into Gonzaga’s curriculum is top of mind for leaders across campus. It may have started as something faculty felt they had to fear – a paper submitted by a student but written by ChatGPT – but the attitude is shifting. Turns out, if used right, AI can make us better.

“An understanding of AI and its many applications is becoming increasingly important for not only the career readiness of students in every discipline, but also in their academic and personal lives,” Interim Provost Mia Bertagnolli says.

She details the University’s approach – explaining how emerging avenues and opportunities across campus will infuse an ethical foundation for the use of this new technology.

“We want to provide opportunities for our students to develop into leaders who not only excel in their fields,” Bertagnolli continues, “but who are also driven to use their knowledge, skills and positional influence to make the world better for others.”

The Institute for AI, Pedagogy and the Curriculum

Marquis is leading one of those opportunities.

This year, GU was one of more than 170 schools selected to participate in the new Institute for AI, Pedagogy and the Curriculum. Hosted by the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the goal is to provide a focused venue to look at AI and its impact on higher education.

It was a competitive group, according to Marquis. But GU’s pitch, focusing on the use of AI through a Jesuit humanistic lens, set the University apart from public institutions.

From there, Marquis and his team developed three goals.

• First: Establish a university-wide policy for the use of AI
• Second: Integrate AI across the University curriculum, leveling the playing field for students entering the job market
• Third: Discern the use of AI from an ethical perspective

In addition to Marquis, Gonzaga’s participating team includes four faculty and staff members – Nichole Barta, Chase Bollig, Gina Sprint and Anthony Tardiff.

Throughout the year, they’ll participate in events and mentorship, meeting regularly, as they develop an action plan for the University, grounded in the goals detailed above.

Marquis says GU has a unique role to play when it comes to developing this action plan and it has to do with what he argues is the universal truth about AI: “There are no guardrails right now. There are no constraints, so we’re trying to bring some understanding from an informed, reasonable perspective.”

Because, he says, one of the things distinguishing GU as an institution is that we have a very clear understanding of who we are.

The Institute of Informatics and Applied Technology

Bertagnolli says the key to integration is to leverage our expertise and resources. “To be meaningful, these efforts and initiatives need to be as broadly based as possible,” she elaborates.

Enter Jay Yang – inaugural director of the Institute of Informatics and Applied Technology.

With a $5 million dollar donation from David and Cathleen Reisenaur in April 2023, the new Institute seeks to become Gonzaga’s hub for AI-centered learning, plus programs in data science and cyber security.

Both Marquis and Yang understand – when establishing a norm for how we teach AI, placing Jesuit values at the forefront of that method will yield the best results.

So, work across campus continues, even as leaders in both Institutes know these changes won’t happen overnight.

As the University undergoes a transitional period, losing a longtime president and learning the priorities of a new one, Yang will continue developing programs that place students at the forefront of technological advancement. Meanwhile, Marquis and his team will prepare a plan to show campus leaders why AI integration is the future.

And not necessarily something to be feared.

“AI is here,” Marquis concludes. “You’re going to use it. It’s going to impact us. So, let’s figure out how to use it well and wisely.”