AI Explorer
About the AI Explorer Project
The AI Explorer project is designed to provide faculty insight into the ethical and effective use of Generative AI (GAI) in teaching and learning. The AI Explorer serves as an information hub on the use of GAI in higher education and connects faculty with current trends in practice and tools used in both industry and for teaching and learning.
All instructors should include statements about the acceptable use of AI in their syllabus, and be prepared to discuss expectations with students. The following guides can help you determine the best approach for your courses:
- AI Course Policy Guide: A guide to design a course policy that suits your course preferences.
- AI Course Policy Examples: A deeper dive into designing your AI course expectations policy.
- AI Detection: Understand the challenges of using AI in your courses, ethical challenges, and practical solutions.
Because FIT has very diverse curricular needs these pages offer the tools needed to provide students with concise expectations as to when, where and how GAI is to be used in each course. Here you will find upcoming events and workshops designed to explore and educate the challenges of incorporating AI into your course plans and expectations.
Blogs and Briefings
Marc Watkins, Assistant Director of Academic Innovation, Director of the Mississippi AI Institute, Lecturer of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Mississippi. I train faculty in Ai literacy. The free Newsletter on Substack
Michael Spencer: AI Supremacy, Michael is an amateur futurist with 210,000 LinkedIn followers and a 2-time LinkedIn Top Voice. Obsessed with future topics such as A.I, robotics, quantum computing, startups, investing, venture capital, business and technology trends. Follow Michael on Substack
The Rundown AI, The Rundown AI is a daily newsletter that collects and comments on AI developments, new products, and resources. Sign up to Rundown AI
Environmental Impact
Christine Zenino from Chicago, US, East Greenland Ice Sheets (5563148850), crop by CET, CC BY 2.0
UN Environment Programme - AI has an environmental problem. Here’s what the world can do about that.
"So how is AI problematic for the environment? Most large-scale AI deployments are housed in data centres, including those operated by cloud service providers. These data centres can take a heavy toll on the planet. The electronics they house rely on a staggering amount of grist: making a 2 kg computer requires 800 kg of raw materials. As well, the microchips that power AI need rare earth elements, which are often mined in environmentally destructive ways, noted Navigating New Horizons." Read the full UN article
Harvard Business Review - The Uneven Distribution of AI’s Environmental Impacts
“ ...the training process for a single AI model, such as a large language model, can consume thousands of megawatt hours of electricity and emit hundreds of tons of carbon. This is roughly equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of hundreds of households in America. (...) All these environmental impacts are expected to escalate considerably, with the global AI energy demand projected to exponentially increase to at least 10 times the current level and exceed the annual electricity consumption of a small country like Belgium by 2026.” Read the full HBR article
Common Tools and Resources
Familiarize yourself with some of the common GAI tools students frequently use. All content generated needs to be checked. Note that some of these tools fabricate sources. They can also be used for analysis, assistance with citing sources, and brainstorming.
Google Gemini (Gemini is turned off for FIT student accounts)
Text to image generators can be used for creating visuals for presentations and more. Explore the creative possibilities of these tools and consider how student might be using them to complete assignments.
DALL-E - an image generation tool available to ChatGPT users
Midjourney image generation tool
ideogram image generation tool
Scribbr: explore Scribbr’s AI writing tools, including our AI Detector, Proofreader, Grammar Checker, Summarizer, and Paraphraser.
Neural Writer - a free prompt generator
Open AI Prompt Guide - a comprehensive guide
Report from the FIT Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee on AI
SUNY FACT2 Guide to Optimizing AI in Higher Education
Ethics of Creative AI- a detailed exploration of the ethics of using GAI in many different settings and circumstances
Possible AI Syllabus Statements from Brandeis Center for Teaching and Learning
Student Guide to GAI from Barnard College
Citing Generative AI - covers APA and MLA styles