Today, artificial intelligence (AI) software can generate essays and digital art. It also can be used in serious academic research. Many faculty argue that AI technology is here to stay and can be used responsibly.
Dr. Chunjiang Zhu teaches artificial intelligence at UNCG and his research has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and more.
“Machine Learning has been a major topic in computer science and statistics since the 1980s,” says Zhu. In the early 2010s, a different kind of AI designed in neural networks that mimic the human brain, namely deep learning, began to get stronger, driven by breakthroughs in computer hardware and the increasing availability of big data. ChatGPT, which creates documents based on short prompts, is in this category.
AI affects more than computer science. According to Dr. Heather Moorefield-Lang of UNCG’s Department of Library and Information Science, “Librarians are no longer just the keepers of the books. We’re also the keepers of the tech.”
She uses AI technologies with her students, too. “My assignments are geared towards what future librarians are doing in their schools, their libraries, and their fields.” Moorefield-Lang says AI tools are a way to “Think smarter, not harder.”
AI is also helping University researchers. Dr. Robert Wiley teaches cognitive science and studies language and memory.
“AI is going to enable new types of research, things that maybe we could have done before, but that would have been very onerous or extremely time consuming.” For example, AI-driven software can gather and organize data that wouldn’t be feasible otherwise.
Wiley needed to create images and a story for use in a large-scale study. He generated both with AI tools. Then, he edited the AI versions to suit his needs. “I’m very actively using AI in my research,” he says.
The technology will continue to grow, says Zhu. “I think the next ten years will be a fast-growing period for AI.” He adds that humans will still be important. “Many routine operations can be replaced by a machine, but people’s innovative thinking is not easily replaced.”
Learn more about how UNCG faculty use AI in the classroom.
by Mercer Bufter ’11 MA