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The rapid evolution of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E together with Google’s Bard has been widely discussed in the media. Utopian and dystopian views abound as to the impact that AI will have on society. The future of education has been central to much of the debate. The death of the essay, the need to ban AI on campuses, the need to detect AI generate work in assessments seem to have been discussed endlessly, sometimes with a splash of hysteria.

It’s clear that AI is going to cause disruption, it’s coming to the digital tools that we use on a daily basis. There’s likely no escape and so it’s essential that those of us working in higher education develop our understanding of both generative AI and other forms of AI. We need to consider how we’re going to use and apply AI in teaching, learning and assessment as well as more broadly across the student journey.

To help us with these considerations we’re hosting a series of webinars over the coming months to provoke our thinking and to stimulate conversation around various aspects of AI. To start us off we have Dr Brian Pluss, lecturer in Computing from the School of Science and Engineering at Dundee. Brian’s session is titled, “Panic or Embrace: What can (and can’t) we do about the disruption/irruption of generative AI in HE Teaching”. The session will run in Zoom from 15:30-16:30 on Thursday 29 June and is open to colleagues and students at Dundee and wider afield. If you’d like to attend you can register via our sign-up form.

To help us continue the conversation we’d also like to invite colleagues to submit their thoughts, and reflections on AI in higher education via our Splot page. We’d love to hear how you’ve used AI in your teaching, to help you develop learning resources or how its prompted you to started redesigning assessments. Perhaps you have some thoughts on ethical aspects of AI or its impact in sustainability. Or maybe you’re a student who’s been incorporating AI into your studies supporting your research and planning.

Recording now available – there’s a link to the playlist at the top of the page.