At the November 22nd Business Council meeting, there was a presentation highlighting the impact of AI at Monmouth University. The presentation was in three parts: 1) Bochen Li provided some background information and played an entertaining demonstration of the capabilities of the technology; 2) Ken Young presented the results of research he conducted along with John Burke investigating the impact of AI on entry level hiring patterns; 3) Provost Richard Veit reviewed the existing policy at the university for using AI and discussed the evolution of this policy and the how the technology might be appropriately incorporated into the curriculum.
The program began with Bochen Li reviewing 3 different instances where AI had been critical to research that were awarded Nobel Prizes. Each scientist, in the fields of chemistry, biology, and physics had used Artificial Intelligence to advance their research and analysis. A clear example of the power of this technology, even in support of research in the sciences. Then Bochen demonstrated the technology through an audio podcast that he had created using an AI tool; giving it only a few basic prompts. The prompts used generated a podcast about the business council and its activities and accomplishments in recent history. The audience was amazed and entertained by the realistic and detailed 5-minute discussion between imaginary AI generated podcast hosts. https://www.monmouth.edu/business-school/wp-content/uploads/sites/425/2024/11/AI-Webcast-Short.mp4
Next, Ken Young presented the results of his survey about the impact of AI on the entry level professional job market, what skills will be most in demand in the future, and what universities need to do in order for students to be prepared for these challenges. The survey was a comprehensive discussion with over 50 participants, many of which are C-Level Executives, and HR hiring managers. Ken reviewed the 4 key themes from the research emphasizing the importance of problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity in an AI enabled workforce. This research has been published in two articles. https://www.nxwave.com/perspectives/ai-industry-trends-survey-challenges-to-operationalizing-ai-in-financial-services https://www.nxwave.com/perspectives/ai-industry-trends-changing-skills-profiles
Lastly, Richard Veit discussed some of the specific impacts of AI to both the usage policy as well as the curriculum. He acknowledged the difficulty of a complex technology that is evolving rapidly as well as the diverse nature of its potential use by both faculty and students. Further, the diversity of the university’s schools and departments complicate the defining of a consistent usage policy as the appropriateness of AI usage may vary widely between disciplines. Provost Veit ended his presentation with a summary of the current initiatives and task forces (some of which business council members are participating) working to continuously evolve the policy and curriculum concerning this important technology.