GenAI Team at the University of Lodz is dedicated to diagnosing the needs and expectations of members of the university community in terms of artificial intelligence. It is responsible for promoting knowledge, good practice and preparing a vision for the use of AI tools. A survey of university staff and students, which will begin in mid-February will constitute the starting point for these activities. Based on its results, training courses will be prepared to improve the skills of ethical and responsible use of GenAI tools by our university's academic community.
The GenAI Team at the University of Lodz is interdisciplinary in nature, which strongly enhances the possibilities to see this technology and its tools in a comprehensive way, taking into account the identity and needs of the different scientific fields and disciplines.
The University of Lodz also actively participates in the work of the Artificial Intelligence Team as part of the Lodz Academic Partnership, which brings together public higher education institutions from Lodz, including art schools.
A definite 'YES' to AI at the university
The plans of the University of Lodz for generative artificial intelligence activities for the coming year are in line with the objectives of the “The Policy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Poland from 2020”. They focus primarily on the area of building awareness and popularising the use of AI as a tool that enriches existing teaching methods, but also supports research work in all fields of science – providing adequate support for students interested in exploring AI topics, as well as developing cooperation between science and business in this area
–says Dr Dominika Kaczorowska-Spychalska.
Recommendations for the use of GenAI technology in teaching and scientific research processes were already prepared by the University of Lodz in June 2023. They came into effect a month and a half later. Key provisions relate to the legal and ethical issues determining how AI tools are used, the need to label them openly as well as liability for doing so.
We allow the use of GenAI tools, but in a rational and based on clear principles way. Indeed, banning them could create digital inequalities and weaken the position of members of our academic community. This, in turn, would have a negative impact on the conducted research, the commercialisation of its results and the level of preparation of our graduates for the requirements of the labour market
– underlines Dr Dominika Kaczorowska-Spychalska.
We don't know what will happen, so.... let's act!
The dynamic development of generative artificial intelligence tools (ChatGPT, Bard, Dall-E, Midjourney, Microsoft Copilot) undoubtedly creates enormous opportunities for higher education, both in the areas of teaching, preparation and conduct of research, as well as administrative activities or communication with the academic community and the university environment.
However, it also entails a number of new challenges and concerns, primarily in terms of ethics or law (protection of intellectual property, privacy, liability for copyright infringement, etc.), as well as direct changes to the teaching process.
The current lack of knowledge about the long-term consequences of GenAI development requires universities to treat this technology in a multifaceted way. On the one hand, to take measures aimed at adapting to new market conditions, the expectations of the academic community and the university's partners, including business partners. On the other hand, activity aimed at developing innovation within the university and in its relations with the environment.
As numerous industry reports have shown, the possibilities for adapting individual artificial intelligence tools to the needs and specificities of different industries and market sectors are essentially limitless. What's more, as experts at the World Economic Forum point out in their report entitled 'The Future of Jobs 2023', understanding how digital technologies will impact the labour market is key to determining the rate at which we will move from declining to new jobs. In turn, this necessitates a reflection on how to prepare graduates for the rapidly changing labour market. So what to teach and how to teach it, given the observed dynamics of social, cultural, legal or business changes forced by the development of digital technologies?
Researchers, teachers and students – are they ready for the change?
A survey conducted by Digital Care among Polish students in September 2023 shows that as many as 68% of them declared their willingness to use GenAI tools (primarily for translating their texts into foreign languages, creating presentations needed for classes or writing credit papers, including theses). This has raised a number of questions about the quality of this work, its reliability as well as the effectiveness of existing methods of verifying knowledge.
UK students surveyed by The Knowledge Academy, on the other hand, declare that these types of tools have a positive impact on them, allowing them to better prepare for exams and check their knowledge levels on an ongoing basis. However, according to a December report produced by Our Future Foundation in cooperation with Kozminski University, students have a number of concerns about how GenAI will affect the future labour market and the possibilities for their individual career paths.
And what do academic staff think about AI? In a report by the National Information Processing Institute – National Research Institute, entitled “Rozwój sztucznej inteligencji w sektorze nauki w Polsce” [The development of artificial intelligence in the science sector in Poland] it was emphasised that as knowledge of this technology increases, scientists' awareness of its potential is greater, and this has a positive impact on confidence in it. It was also recognised that its further development would not lead to a weakening of the role of academics, although it was pointed out that their level of digital competence is still insufficient and the way they work will change.
How generative AI will transform the higher education sector in the coming years depends largely on the ability to take a fresh look at this market and understand the direction in which the universities of the future will develop
– concludes Dr Dominika Kaczorowska-Spychalska.
Edit: Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz