A group of Trinity College students, faculty and staff recently heard from artificial intelligence experts at the Connecticut Forum discussion “Being Human in the Age of AI.” His April 17 panel at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center included AI scholar Kate Crawford, AI ethicist and neuroscientist Nita Farahani, new york times The event was moderated by technology columnist and author Kevin Ruth and moderated by John Dankoski, news and audio director for NPR's Science Friday.
Trinity is one of several education partners of the Connecticut Forum. Members of the Trinity community, including students, faculty, and staff, have the opportunity to participate in conversations about important issues with leaders from a variety of industries. Forums support open dialogue, lifelong learning, and the free and lively exchange of ideas.
Panelists shared a variety of stories about how AI has impacted research in fields such as medicine and law. Ruth talked about how researchers in the medical field were able to use his AI technology to build models of proteins. “Researchers used to spend their entire PhD developing a single protein. Now they can do it using AI,” Ruth said.
Ruth continued to discuss the positive aspects that AI technology brings to society and delved into its impact on social relationships. He shared his unique experience in creating a true connection with artificial intelligence. “What I was concerned about was [AI] as a social force,” he said. “I think the path to social use of AI will be much smoother than for other forms. ”
Panelists also addressed the negative qualities of AI, such as when Crawford drew attention to the technology's invisible environmental and social impacts. “Even a small interaction requires a lot of energy, water, and hidden human labor,” Crawford said. “These are not man-made things. These are real technologies with huge carbon footprints.”
Crawford discussed what she sees as the neurological and psychological impacts of AI, particularly on education. “When you use AI, you're skipping cognitive and social processes,” Crawford said. “I see what I’m gaining, but what am I losing?”
Farahany added: “We're keeping our AI systems at a level of maturity that we don't expect from humans. Once you start putting it into high-stakes decision-making, it becomes increasingly dangerous.” Masu.”
Alex Helberg, a visiting assistant professor in Trinity's Alan K. Smith Center for Writing and Rhetoric, attended the forum after recently teaching the January semester course “Writing and AI.” “It was one of the most calm and therapeutic conversations I've had with him about artificial intelligence since the early days of ChatGPT and the current AI era we're in,” Helberg said. Masu. “They are very concise and clear about what current AI technologies actually do, distinguish whether the terms ‘artificial’ or ‘intelligence’ should be used, and reflect on the real-world consequences and impacts of their deployment. This type of software has permeated our society and daily life.
Helberg's J-term class educated students about the impact of AI technology on writing. In one assignment, students were asked to write using only synthetically generated text and then asked to reflect on what they learned and how this technology affected their writing. “The central question of this course is: to what extent can this technology help our writing process, and what are its limitations?” Helberg said. “One of the things the students learned was that technology prevents them from using their unique voices. They wanted to write in a way that felt authentic. I wanted to.”
“We need to have more nuanced conversations about AI, rather than oversimplifying it,” Helberg added. “At Trinity, we are really good at being able to ask deep, critical questions about these media reports and new technologies.”
The final Connecticut forum of the season is “Chef!” Top Chef Food, Flavor and Culture”, May 21, 2024.
