During the University of North Florida Board of Trustees November meeting, members of President Limayem’s AI Council gave an in-depth presentation on the emerging role of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education and its future at UNF.

AI Council members Josh Gellers and Brian Verkamp discussed matters such as AI curriculum integration and future AI initiatives. UNF vice president of Marketing and Communications also noted that AI plug-ins such as ChatGPT have even been utilized in UNF marketing “to ensure consistency”.

While the AI Council’s website states its goal is to “guide and promote the development and implementation of AI technologies within the university”, UNF students and staff have expressed mixed opinions on the growth of AI at UNF.

AI Council’s Integration

In September, UNF took a substantial step in AI usage and promotion when the university launched its “AI for Work and Life” certificate, which has since cultivated more than 38,000 registrations, according to a recent campus-wide email.

“What we’re trying to do here at UNF is make sure that there are educational resources for students so that no one is left out of this AI-powered economy and also provide training and other kinds of resources for faculty so that they learn how to prepare their students for that new world.” Gellers said during the November BOT meeting.

According to Gellers’ presentation, UNF intends to follow the success of the “AI for Work and Life” certificate by launching digital badges for staff while also implementing certain AI workshops “demystifying AI” to those skeptical or uncertain about AI usage.

With several AI certifications and courses already established, UNF also plans to launch three new AI-focused certificates geared towards business, construction, and engineering, according to Gellers.

In the marketing department, Jones expanded on AI usage on UNF promotional platforms using enterprise tools like Canva.

“We are really using AI across the board, and we’re using it in our marketing campaigns as well.” said Jones.

Jones stated that UNF uses several AI-plugins for captions, templates, PowerPoint slides, and other digital assets. Through this process, Jones explained that UNF’s “True North” brand voice is officially recognized by ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot.

“AI has learned how we communicate about UNF, allowing the masters [users] to communicate more effectively.” Jones said.

Mixed Reactions on Campus

Students and staff have mixed feelings about UNF’s plans for AI integration. 

Winter Slaughter, a junior and Student Government senator, believes the university is making a positive and necessary change by utilizing AI within the university operations.

“AI is here to stay whether we like it or not.” said Slaughter. “To be a competitive university, we have to adapt to the technology of tomorrow today.”

UNF BOT member Nikul Patel shares a similar perspective on AI integration, citing the need to prepare students for a changing world and job market that is adjusting to the presence of AI.

“What UNF needs to do, and I believe has been doing, is prepare its students to deal with that change…Are we preparing you to understand what will change and then adapt to that change? I believe UNF has done a great job of doing that.” said Patel.

However, other students and staff object to the presence of AI on campus, citing its usage as a diminishment of critical thinking and a detriment to the environment.

Max Fernald, a sophomore, explained that AI should not replace human effort and cautioned against over-reliance on such technology.

“If we are taught that we can rely on AI, even for things like studying, what’s going to happen if we become unable to use it? AI makes you dependent and lazy and it ruins things like basic critical thinking skills.” said Fernald.

UNF professor David Jaffee expressed a similar notion, blaming AI for hindering the critical thinking process he tries to foster within his students.

“Organizing information and writing are part of the assignments I give all the time. These are the skills that we want students to be developing at the university and they’re not going to develop them if they use AI.” said Jaffee.

“I think we should be cultivating their natural intelligence rather than using artificial intelligence.” Jaffee added.

Jaffee also expressed discontent with the incorporation of AI, given the environmental impact of such technology.

“If you do any research on AI, you know that environmentally it’s a disaster in terms of the electricity and water use…For universities to be increasing the level of demanded use of something that has that consequence seems to be misguided.” said Jaffee.

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