Academic ethics expert to speak to TRU faculty about AI, ChatGPT

Photo: TRU

Thompson Rivers University instructors will hear from a leading expert on educational ethics next month on issues relating to artificial intelligence, ChatGPT and the potential impact on campus.

The University of Calgary’s Dr. Sarah Eaton will deliver a keynote speech at TRU’s annual Teaching Practices Colloquium, slated to run on Feb. 21.

TRU Provost Gillian Balfour told a university senate meeting last week that AI has been top of mind for many at the institution.

“Academic integrity has taken on a new meaning of late, in particular with regard to artificial intelligence and the impact of ChatGPT,” she said.

“Lots of questions are being asked of me by email about what we are going to do with this. When are we going to come into this space and begin to understand what our students are doing as it relates to academic integrity and AI?”

ChatGPT has been described by experts as a potential game-changer in a number of areas, including in the classroom. It is a program developed by a San Francisco AI developer affiliated with Microsoft.

ChatGPT can generate readable text on demand based on what it has learned from a vast online database. That means students could use the free web-based program to write essays or help complete other course work.

Balfour said Eaton will bring an interesting perspective to the debate.

“I think the conversation will be an excellent place for us to start as we talk about how we shift our pedagogy in response to what AI can and cannot do, as opposed to trying to ward off AI,” she said,

“How does AI become part of the way in which we teach and learn?”

Balfour said she hopes the talk will lead to more discussion “in other dimensions” of TRU’s campus.

“It’s certainly something that I’ve been hearing a lot from this community about, so hopefully this conference at the end of February will be a good place for us to start,” she said.

“I am certainly looking forward to hearing what Dr. Eaton has to say.”