Keynotes

Artificial Intelligence and Higher Education. A critical studies approach.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is frequently hailed as a ‘solution’ to many of education’s core problems (e.g., OECD, 2021) – problems such as student underachievement, assessment at scale, and better preparing learners for 21^st century career paths. However, such claims tend to be aspirational rather than evidence-based (Miao & Holmes, 2021), and overly simplistic, forgetting issues such as agency, pedagogy, surveillance, human rights, and ethics (Holmes et al., 2021; Holmes et al., 2022; Holmes & Porayska-Pomsta, 2022; Porayska-Pomsta, Holmes and Nemorin, in press). In fact, current applications of AI in Higher Education tend to be solutions- rather than problems-oriented, and all too often undermine student agency and disempower educators; while the teaching of AI almost always focuses on the technological dimension of AI to the exclusion of the human dimension (its ethical, human, and social implications). Accordingly, this presentation will explore the application and teaching of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education from a critical studies and human rights perspective. It will identify and address many of the key myths, it will explore the elephant in the room (ChatGPT and similar tools), it will argue for a new trajectory, and it will pose more questions about AI and the futures of learning than it answers

This recording and transcript can be accessed and shared directly from the UCL MediaCentral link: https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Play/98865

Bio

Wayne Holmes is an Associate Professor in the UCL Knowledge Lab at University College London. His research takes a critical studies perspective to the teaching and application of Artificial Intelligence in educational contexts (AI&ED), and their ethical, human, and social implications. Wayne is leading the Council of Europe’s project: Artificial Intelligence and Education. A critical view through the Lens of Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law; he is also Consultant for the Technology and AI in Education unit at UNESCO, for which he co-wrote AI and Education: Guidance for Policy-makers; and he is Senior Researcher in AI&ED for IRCAI (the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence under the auspices of UNESCO). Wayne has also co-written Artificial Intelligence in Education. Promise and Implications for Teaching and Learning (Holmes et al., 2019), Citizens Interacting with AI Systems (for the EU JRC, Vuorikari and Holmes, 2022), State of the Art and Practice in AI in Education (Holmes and Tuomi, 2022), and The Ethics of AI in Education. Practices, Challenges and Debates (Holmes and Porayska-Pomsta, Eds, 2022).

AI in Higher Education: opportunities and challenges

As the fourth industrial revolution begins to transform society, so too will it transform higher education, perhaps beyond recognition. Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform every aspect of higher education, not just the way academics teach and conduct research, but how students learn, are assessed, and how we manage their entire journey from enquiry through to alumni. No aspect will be untouched. This talk will consider how higher education will need to transform at a pace unprecedented in its history, which will be challenging for all, but necessary not only to compete in future and to provide a high quality, efficient, service to staff and students. Technology does not however come without its challenges for example bias, which can be hard to detect and eliminate. This talk will look to the future reflecting on the opportunities and challenges ahead. And did I ask ChatGPT for an essay on the title? Of course I did 😊!

Bio

Professor Liz Bacon is Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Abertay University. She is a Chartered Engineer, Chartered Scientist, and Chartered IT Professional, as well as a National Teaching Fellow and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Liz is a current Trustee and Director of Bletchley Park Trust, and a Board member of V&A Dundee. She is a past President of both BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and EQANIE (European Quality Assurance Network for Informatics Education), and a past Chair of both the BCS Academy of Computing, and the CPHC (Council of Professors and Heads of Computing). In 2015 she was voted the 35th Most Influential Woman in UK IT. Liz is a Professor of Computer Science, with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, her research focusing primarily on technology-enhanced, and immersive, learning, developing novel solutions in areas such as crisis management and eHealth.

Liz is a regular worldwide speaker on a range of topics, including preparing staff and students for the fourth industrial revolution’s impact on teaching, learning and work, and improving diversity and participation in STEM, particularly among women and people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Sue Attewell has a strong background in tertiary education and skills having worked in the sector for the last eighteen years.  She has a wealth of diverse experience having worked across charities, government agencies, local colleges, councils and LEPs. Previously focussed on skills and economic development where the emphasis was on meeting the needs of employers by building a skills pipeline responsive to future needs of employers and ensuring all individuals have the necessary skills and support to move into sustainable employment.  

 At Jisc as Head of Edtech Sue Attewell is responsible for developing new products and services for the sector and overseeing the projects we are developing to achieve that vision.   Sue co-leads the National Centre for AI in tertiary education where our aim is to support the AI maturity of our members.   The centre focuses on developing the AI literacy and skills of members and supporting institutions to identify and adopt relevant products responsibly.

Caitlin Bentley is a Lecturer in AI Education at King’s College London. She is a member of the UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Hub Skills Committee and Syllabus Lab, the A+ Alliance for Inclusive Algorithms network, and she is the Secretary of the Cybernetics Society.

Caitlin’s education scholarship aims to make AI-enabled systems more equitable, socially just and sustainable. Recently, she has been developing intersectional approaches to data, as well as to the design and deployment of trustworthy autonomous systems. She aims to introduce participatory AI approaches such as these, as well as to promote critical reflexive practice skill development, within UK AI higher education.

Dr. Chris Blunt is Assistant Professorial Lecturer at LSE. Chris is a philosopher of medicine and AI, with a focus on applications of machine learning in medical research.

As Co-Director of LSE100, he oversees the module ‘How can we control AI?‘, which focuses on social scientific issues raised by AI, and has been delivered to 4,000 LSE undergraduates since its inception in 2020.

Dr Thomas Lancaster works in the Department of Computing at Imperial College London, where he holds a Senior Teaching Fellow position and is the Senior Tutor for taught postgraduate students. His main research field for over 20 years has been academic integrity, where he has published on topics including plagiarism detection, contract cheating, exam misconduct, and institutional policies.

Thomas coordinates the London and South East Academic Integrity Network (LSEAIN) and is a member of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) advisory group on academic integrity. Several of Thomas’ recent publications have been written alongside student co-partners and have used machine learning techniques to identify and quantify attempts made by students to outsource their assessments online through sites such as Reddit and Freelancer.com. Thomas is also part of the ongoing debate on how artificial intelligence can be used ethically within teaching and assessment, including having contributed to the recent QAA guidance released on this topic.