The AI & Education conference
New artificial intelligence tools and software, free and accessible to all, are taking all sectors of activity by storm, including the world of education. This is revolutionising our relationship with knowledge and our interaction with others, and not just on text-based media. Graphic production is being impacted, and video is less visible for the moment, but its activities will also be turned upside down. The pace of change is dizzying, yet we are still relying on an imaginary AI or situations that are already outdated.
These two days, organised by FUN (France digital university), were an opportunity to take stock of the tools currently available and to outline all the fields impacted by AI in the world of teaching and learning. In particular, questions were raised about
- How these AI tools work, particularly generative AI tools
- Ethical and inclusion aspects
- Regulatory aspects (copyright, etc.)
- The emergence of new knowledge and skills (understanding what AI is in order to know how to use it, knowing how to write a relevant prompt/instruction, etc.)
- The energy consumption of these tools
- Tools used by higher education that already use AI or are going to offer services based on this technology
- The value of having French-language models, to take account of a different cultural model from the Anglo-Saxon model widely used, in particular via ChatGPT
We are still in the imaginary world of AI, with preconceived ideas.
All of this is having an impact on higher education and rethinking the fundamental nature of the teaching profession.
These days will help us to build a tailored response at UPHF to these technologies, which exist and need to be taken into account by everyone.
