Check out AI@UNE Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4
AI systems are being integrated into our lives at break-neck speed. While some experts highlight the fallibility of AI tools – driven as they are by data and algorithms and capable of disseminating ‘mistruths’, others fear their stranglehold on basic workplace functions and threat to future jobs.
In this next instalment of our series, UNE staff reflect on this brave new world and what it means for education, work, humanity and society.
NB: Since this series was launched, Aaron Driver has been appointed as AI Integration Lead, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law.
Where is this all heading?
Aaron Driver, Lecturer and Academic Integrity Officer with the UNE Business School, believes it’s a classic “opportunities versus threats” scenario.
“There are huge opportunities and equally large threats associated with generative AI,” he says. “Human stewardship and care are absolutely critical. But the wins will go to the people who respond with the most agility, who think the most creatively and who engage with the most intensity. You either get on the bus or you get run over by it.”
In the higher education sector, Aaron foreshadows some positive developments. “I think we’ll see a greater emphasis on customised and supportive learning, more tailored instruction, more real-time feedback and a greater appreciation of human guidance,” he says.
“As AI becomes capable of more tasks and skillsets, universities will put a greater emphasis on higher-order thinking skills – like critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity."
There are huge opportunities and equally large threats associated with generative AI.
On one thing, everyone appears to agree. It’s not a time to stick your head in the sand, but to upskill on AI, its capabilities and its limitations – and fast.
Where does that leave us humans?
Wellett Potter, from UNE’s Law School, has concerns about the deficiencies of our laws – both to effectively regulate the use of generative AI and to protect the copyright of the data that it relies on, which in most cases has been created by an actual human.
Dr Wellett Potter.
“AI is here to stay, but our laws are very slow, reactive and territorial in nature,” she says. “We have a lot of work to do in the AI safety space, to regulate this technology. By the time we start to think about and draft laws, they will be out of date and AI will be forging on. That’s the problem the whole world is facing.”
In a recent article in The Conversation, Wellett raised a number of issues relating to copyright. Under Australian law, computer-generated content may be classified as a literary work for copyright purposes, but who owns the copyright? Can AI be considered a legal joint author and, by reproducing copyright-protected material, is AI or the human user in breach of copyright laws?
“These legal questions make it all very challenging,” Wellett says.
Perhaps more sinister is the potential for AI to be co-opted in the production of deep fakes, whereby videos or images are digitally altered to portray someone else or communicate a false message. This is typically used for malicious intent - to obtain personal information or spread misinformation.
Humans can do AI plus human, and that’s something that AI alone can’t do.
“We are seeing this already with the production of videos purportedly featuring prominent people, but which are not real,” Wellett says. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to discern what is true or not, and what can be trusted. We urgently need greater regulation in this area.”
Aaron Driver.
Aaron believes that, at least in the medium term, there will be a place for the humble human – to question such questionable AI outputs, promote critical thinking, and add the invaluable human element.
“Humans can do AI plus human, and that’s something that AI alone can’t do,” Aaron says.
“In any workplace, but particularly in teaching, we can take the best of AI and add our personal experiences, focus on the building of relationships and the modelling of positive behaviour. That is a human’s competitive advantage.
“We can’t match AI for the volume and speed of its outputs – its bandwidth is broader – but we humans are social beings capable of intuition and emotion and connection, capable of inspiring others. Our bandwidth is deeper."
