Mindless mirrors: The inevitability of anthropomorphizing generative AI [presentation]

Together with some of my amazing colleagues (Scotty Craig, Charla Griffey-Brown, and Kellie Kreiser), we presented the kickoff panel discussion for the Empower Learners (AI) conference that was held in Scottsdale Arizona (December 5-7, 2023).

Abstract

Are you polite to your AI, do you assign it a gender, a nickname, or possibly an endearment? Are you even aware that you’re doing this? You are not alone. Join our panel of experts as we examine the curious habit of humans to anthropomorphize Generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT, and discuss the possible impacts on student learning. We will explore the quirky human nature of ascribing human characteristics to our digital assistants, and discuss the growing importance of understanding this behaviour as AI-powered tools continue to become interwoven within the very fabric of our daily routines and learning environments. We’ll bring into question the “etiquette” of being “nice” to tools like ChatGPT that could actually lead to better results, or if it's simply a charming but unnecessary humanization of our high-tech tools.

Our panel of experts will led the conversation around the opportunities and challenges posed by GenAI tools designed to interact through human-like language and artistic outputs. Moving beyond whether students find these tools engaging or easy to use;  focusing on the deeper implications of Theory of Mind as applied to technology. We'll consider if and how students ascribe mental states to AI, and what that says about the potential for these tools to support or transform learning experiences. 

Don’t miss this fun and thought provoking panel as we decipher the intriguing relationship between GenAI personification and its educational impacts, and perhaps leave pondering the nuances of your next "thank you" to your AI companion.

Many thanks to the Global Research Alliance for AI in Learning and Education (GRAILE) network for sponsoring this event.

Future of being human: Will AI transform how we learn?

A Livestream Event on YouTube
In our rapidly evolving digital age, how might generative AI reshape the landscape of learning? On September 28, 2023, tune in to a live-streamed conversation on this very topic, hosted by the well-renowned Professor Andrew Maynard, as part of Arizona State University's "The Future of Being Human ... Unplugged" series.

I had the honor, along with two wonderful students, to join Professor Andrew Maynard in an engaging dialogue, seeking to understand the role of generative AI in our future classrooms, workspaces, and everyday lives.

About "The Future of Being Human … Unplugged":

Hosted by Arizona State University's Future of Being Human initiative, this series is no conventional online dialogue. Forget tedious PowerPoint presentations, prolonged opening remarks, or dense monologues. Instead, the series is geared towards creating candid, unpredictable conversations that challenge our perspectives on the nexus of advanced tech, modern science, and the evolving essence of human nature.

With the "Unplugged" theme, the discussions aim to break free from the traditional norms and delve into unconventional ideas without the constraints of disciplinary boundaries. The ultimate goal? To stimulate thought, entertain, and provide a fresh look at what being human might mean in a technologically sophisticated future.

Prepare to be inspired as we dive deep into the role of generative AI in the future of learning!

To learn more checkout all of the events from Future of Being Human: Unplugged

Ice to Water - Exploring Biotechnology through Virtual Reality

It was an honor to present this paper, Ice to water: Exploring biotechnology through virtual reality at the 35th EdMedia + Innovate Learning Conference (by AACE) in Vienna Austria this week. A special thank you to my co-authors for their hard work and contributions to the paper (Ahbi and Mustafa!).

Ice to water: Exploring biotechnology through virtual reality
(Sean Leahy, Mustafa Demir, & Abhishek Singharoy)

Paper Abstract

The BioSense Network has developed a new generation of a virtual computational microscope using virtual reality (VR) to bring the wonders of the microscopic world of biotechnology to a mainstream audience. Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense National Defense Education Program (DOD NDEP), the BioSense Network aims to build sustainable biotechnology programs for middle and high schools by redefining the approach to biotechnology learning in the K-12 environment enabling learners to experience the behavior and interactions of molecules in a simulated first-hand experience in virtual reality.

Revolutionizing Higher Ed with AI: Insights from the ShapingEDU Mini Summit

Utilizing AI Tools

Empowering educators to create more impactful, personalized learner opportunities

“Artificial Intelligence has the potential to create more impactful, individualized learning journeys that maximize learning experiences at every step, and streamline educator’s workload. With the wildly fast-paced introduction of new AI tools, we’re forced to process a new array of challenges and opportunities almost daily.”

— ShapingEDU Mini-Summit on AI x Higher Education

What an incredible event - so many wonderful panelists and discussions around the potential impact of AI and Higher Education. I am very grateful for having the opportunity to co-host this with the amazing Stephanie Pierotti. I’m already looking forward to future conversations…

Agenda

9:15amPT | Early Bird Coffee + Trivia

9:30amPT | Welcome! Why We're Here (Stephanie Pierotti, ASU ShapingEDU Director + Dr. Sean Leahy, ASU Director of Creative and Emerging Technology)

9:50amPT | What's Now: A Brief History Of Artificial Intelligence

10:00amPT | What's Next: One Year + Five Year Outlook (Hosts + Dr. Punya Mishra, Associate Dean of ASU Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College + Eric Wang, Vice President, Artificial Intelligence at Turnitin)

10:30amPT | Fireside Chat: AI x The Humanities (Phaedra Boinodiris, IBM Consulting's global leader for Trustworthy AI and co-founder of Future World Alliance + Dr. Julie Keane, Chief Learning Officer at Participate)

10:50amPT | Mini-Workshop: AI x Serious Play (Dr. Ruben Puentedura)

11:10amPT | AI x The Loneliness Epidemic - Student Insights (Sigrid Benitez, ASU Graduate Student, Counseling)

11:20amPT | Fireside Chat: AI x Visual Design (Stephen Hart, Principal Customer Success Manager - Education at Adobe)

11:45amPT | Fireside Chat: AI x Educational Technology (Ryan Gialames, Edtech Product & Design Leader at Robots & Pencils)

12:05pmPT | Fireside Chat: AI x The Future Of Work (Tim Sanders, Vice President of Client Strategy at Upwork)

12:25pmPT | AI x The Future of Learning Environments (Shawn Augenstein, Principal CX Consultant - Digital Velocity Solutions at CDW + Christopher Marcolis, Head of Analytics & Data Governance, Data and AI at CDW)

12:50pmPT | AI x The Future of Education (Michael J. Jabbour, Chief Innovation Officer at Microsoft Education)

1:10pmPT | Stephanie & Sean's Favorite AI Tools + Next Steps > ShapingEDU Global Cafe (online community)

Generative AI Webinar Conversation Series

Hosting a Webinar Conversation Series

I was honored to be asked to host a series of conversational webinars with fellow AI experts at Arizona State University this spring. This webinar series provided an opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to engage in contemporary and emergent discussions around the use of generative AI in higher education. You can access the full webinar series along with other generative AI resources for ASU from the PO’s official website: Office of the University Provost: Generative AI

Episode 01 (April 4, 2023): What are generative AI tools?

Episode 02 (April 5, 2023): What generative AI tools are available?

Episode 03 (April 13, 2023): In what ways can generative AI impact academic integrity?

Episode 04 (April 14, 2023): How can ASU foster a positive culture around generative AI?

Episode 05 (April 18, 2023): Generative AI’s impact on critical thinking and research?

Episode 06 (April 19, 2023): Generative AI and social justice

Background For Conversation series

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has been a burning topic of conversation far and wide since late 2022 - and the discussions among the higher education community is just one sector (out of many) that are trying to grapple with this seemingly sudden wide-spread emergent technology. While Generative AI tools have been available for a while, the sudden appearance of user-friendly interfaces popularized by OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Stability.ai’s Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, etc. have ushered in a new era of access to these large machine learning tools that were previously only accessible to those with more advanced AI / ML knowledge than the general public.

What is Generative AI?

Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that uses machine learning algorithms to create new content based on user input, without being explicitly programmed. Generative AI systems are trained using large datasets, and analyze patterns, rules and statistical structures to generate new content. There are different types of generative AI applications and models, each using different machine learning models, neural networks and approaches to generating content. Examples of generative AI include ChatGPT, DALL-E and StableDiffusion. DALL-E and StableDiffusion are text-to-image generators that use a type of neural network called generative adversarial network (GAN) to create new images based on input parameters. ChatGPT builds a transformer-based language model from a generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) to process sequential data and generate sequenced responses.

Unlocking Creativity with a Generative AI Workshop

Generative AI Workshop

An exploration of emergent artificial intelligence tools, Spring semester 2023.

Spring semester 2023 - the one topic that seems inescapable is artificial intelligence (AI) or more specifically the “Cambrian explosion” of generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, StableDiffusion, Elevenlabs, and MidJourney just to name a few. This increasing awareness and need for exploring and understanding generative AI led to the development of this short introductory workshop offered in the Spring 2023. One of the core tenants of the experience is taking a hands-on approach through a Learn-it, Try-it, and Apply-it model with a short section of reflection.

Goals and Learning Outcomes

As educators work to familiarize themselves with these new and emergent tools this workshop was designed to foster a positive discourse to encourage a constructive dialogue and atmosphere regarding the integration of Generative AI in educational practices, academic research, and creative endeavors.

Learning Outcomes

1. High level understanding of fundamental technology behind popular generative AI applications

2. Discuss experiences and observations of affordances and constraints of generative AI tools

3. Evaluate potential impact on educational context, and identify areas of need for deeper understanding

Background on the Purpose and Need

As the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to evolve and grow, there has been an increasing interest in the use of Generative AI in various industries (or perhaps another way to think about this - are there any industries at the moment that is NOT looking into the disruptive potential of generative AI?). In the field of higher education, Generative AI has the potential to revolutionize the way students learn and interact with the world around them. By enabling machines to generate new and unique content, educators can create personalized learning experiences that cater to each student's individual needs. However, with this exciting potential comes a need to understand how this technology actually works, and to evaluate the affordances and constraints it has in each contextual setting. Hosting a workshop for higher education faculty on Generative AI is crucial for ensuring that educators have the skills and knowledge necessary to incorporate this technology into their teaching practices effectively.

Futures Futures Futures - ShapingEDU GCSS23

In February I was invited to present a handful of lectures and workshops to the ShapingEDU community at the ShapingEDU Global Community Solutioneering Summit 2023. The event was split over several days, starting with a virtual component where I presented a short lecture on Becoming A Citizen Futurist.

“
What could we accomplish together that we couldn’t accomplish alone?

For this event, we chose the theme of Education As Jazz. The Smithsonian Institute eloquently summarized the importance of jazz: “Often acclaimed as America’s greatest art form, jazz has become accepted as a living expression of the nation’s history and culture, still youthful, difficult to define and impossible to contain, a music of beauty, sensitivity, and brilliance that has produced (and been produced by) an extraordinary progression of talented artists.””

— Shaping ShapingEDU GCSS23

February 16 - Virtual Component

Lecture on Becoming A Citizen Futurist: Preparing for Uncertainty (a few select slides shared below)

February 23 - In Person Conference Event

Lecture on Educating for Sustainable Futures: Scanning the Futures Horizon (select images from presentation)

February 24 - In Person Workshop

Workshop on Strategic Foresight (Becoming a Citizen Futurist). This workshop focused on using the Axes of Uncertainty as an introductory foresight tool. This session was also followed up by an extended Q&A session of “Ask a futurist” where I fielded a wide range of questions from the conference participants. (A few select slides shared below)

Futures Thinking: Exploring the adjacent possible (new book chapter)

“There has never been a time of greater promise, or greater peril ”

— Professor Klaus Schwab

How can the educational system shift to a proactive–participant model in exploring the adjacent possible ushered in through the inherent uncertainty of the Fourth Industrial Revolution? How can we look to historical patterns of disruption to gain insights into the challenges of preparing for future uncertainties? How can all of this lend itself to a more sustainable futures? Find out in the ‘exciting’ new book chapter referenced below that was published in Uncertainty: A Catalyst for Creativity, Learning and Development (edited by Beghetto and Jaeger)

We (Punya Mishra, Ben Scragg, and I) invite you to read along through our recently published book chapter and join the conversation around this growing field of inquiry in educational futures and futures thinking.

[APA Citation]

Leahy, S.M., Scragg, B., Mishra, P. (2022). Creatively Confronting the Adjacent Possible: Educational Leadership and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In: Beghetto, R.A., Jaeger, G.J. (eds) Uncertainty: A Catalyst for Creativity, Learning and Development . Creativity Theory and Action in Education, vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98729-9_17

Abstract

In this chapter we explore the unknown possibilities that lie in the shadows of disruptions and innovations known as the adjacent possible. We frame the challenges educational leaders face when trying to prepare for an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world that is propelled into the Fourth Industrial Revolution imbued with rapidly changing and unevenly distributed technological proliferation. Throughout our chapter, we offer strategic mindsets in design and futures thinking to combat the growing challenges of preparing educational systems that are rife with existing deep and complexly interwoven wicked problems for uncertainty. We propose that looking to the past, we can discover insights into meta-patterns and the ways we failed to predict the futures that emerged from previous discoveries and innovations. Using this frame, we discuss the potential of combining the interconnected mindsets of futures thinking and design, not to predict the future, but to prepare our educational systems for the uncertainty of the future.

Challenges and Opportunities of AI in Education

EdTech Korea Forum 2021

September 15, 2021 | Conference theme: EdTech Unlocks Learning Innovation

It was an honor to be invited to speak at the EdTech Korea Forum 2021 on artificial intelligence in education. EdTech Korea Forum is the largest ICT conference in Korea, hosted by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea, and was presented in English and Korean languages. The conference presenters represented a rich and diverse group of presenters from a range of professional experts including educators, policy-makers, industry partners, and academics.

My presentation was titled: Challenges and Opportunities of AI in Education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Abstract: (From Conference Website)

As our collective global society stands on the precipice of the Fourth Industrial Revolution ushered in through the rapid advancements and convergence of digital, biological, and physical technologies and innovations, the challenges and opportunities for the education system have never been more salient. Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have presented the system of education with an emergent horizon of new technological applications to address historical and contemporary challenges facing the educational system. This presentation will explore the emerging role of AI in education, and address issues around the impact of fair distribution, unintended consequences, and the need for a humanistic approach to emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Below is the flyer for the event (one in English the other in Korean)

Designing Learning Futures: Navigating Toward the Next Normal

On March 17, 2021 I had the pleasure to co-present the closing keynote for the OLC Innovate K-12 Summit with my trusted colleague Ben Scragg. In this presentation we explore the challenges of creating a new “normal” as it relates to educational futures - and explore a set of strategic foresight tools and methodology that can assist leaders in creating an intentional “next normal” for their organization.

Below is the extended abstract from the event website.

Extended Abstract:

We are certainly living through a volatile, complex, uncertain, and ambiguous (VUCA) world at the present moment, and its impacts have been felt perhaps more deeply and tangibly in K12 education than anywhere else - both at global level and within our local schools and communities. Given the rapid disruption and changes brought on by COVID-19, we know that there will be no returning “back to normal.” While schools, educators, students and families have all navigated the past year in different ways and with different degrees of hardship, challenge, and even success - we still look forward to establishing a future sense of normalcy, however the new normal takes shape.

In this session, we want to explore some of the ways in which educators and leaders can begin to design and give shape to this new normal, despite all the uncertainty of now. Given all that educators and communities are facing, it’s worth exploring how we might re-imagine our teaching and learning environments - particularly online and digital learning environments - by addressing and harnessing the plausible outcomes and impacts of our collective uncertainty.

We will invite participants to learn about and experiment with emergent design and strategic foresight tools that can reveal risks and opportunities, helping us prioritize the work needed to build the next normal. The goal of this session is not to predict what will happen in the future, but to stretch the imagination (and ourselves!) to think about what we would like to have happen, using a framework and tools for how it might happen. The maxim “we cannot predict the future, but we can invent it “ is often cited as a call to design and use strategic forecasting tools and methodologies. Join us as we create a studio space to explore a set of tools and reflective prompts that we’re describing as Learning Futures.