(Steve here: This is Part 3, Part 1 can be found here, and Part 2 here, If you didn’t read either of those, this column can be understood by itself.)
ChatGPT-4 came out on March 14, 2023. This A.I. continues to impress—it can write full movie scripts, write software code, and probably figure out a solution for your relationship problems.
This is further fueling the sense of urgency around understanding A.I. for business and higher education.
While we look at how to begin to integrate artificial intelligence—or just start working out the challenges to even start that process, there are lessons from the adoption—or lack thereof—of online education at colleges and universities that provide some guidance on how to move forward.
When I was a Regent at the University of Colorado, I was an advocate for online education. Not a replacement for traditional classroom instruction but a new offering to ensure that people that couldn’t come to our campuses could have access to a world-class education.
Call me crazy for thinking that a public university should try to better serve the public.
The president, campus chancellors, and faculty were not amused.
In pre-COVID times, online was still considered a novelty by many, something less reputable institutions did, something most faculty didn’t want to bother with, and it was certainly beneath a flagship campus. Their bias was that there was no way the quality could ever equal in-person instruction; why even try?
So, it became a political problem. Not a problem of know-how, money, or skill—we had all that—but a problem of will.
Developing a comprehensive integrated campus approach to the university’s online offerings was something individual campuses didn’t want the system involved with because they would lose control (typical behavior in university systems), faculty and campuses didn’t see an immediate upside for themselves, many felt it would set a bad precedent if a board member had too much influence on a subject (this one was legit), and—because of how CU does budgeting—they were afraid of losing revenue to other campuses in the system.
In trying to be reasonable and gain support for what would expand access to the university, I accepted a compromise. I later realized leaders didn’t really want it to win, which turned into a colossal waste of time and money.
That was a big failure and a hard lesson. The question, then, was, how did institutions get this done?
To answer that, a group of university leaders went to visit the University of Texas system, the University of Nebraska system, and had a virtual meeting with the State University of New York system to talk about their approach to online education. They let me tag along.
There were common themes to what worked. I’ve adapted those and other lessons for our purposes.
Individual or Department Level
My personal observation is that staff and faculty in higher education feel more disempowered than colleagues I’ve worked with in the private sector.
It makes sense as things in higher education move at a glacial pace, benefits to change are not apparent, everyone has an idea why a change is bad or could be done better, and when change does come, it’s often not done well.
These suggestions for an individual or department won’t change the institution, but they are offered to provide some encouragement on what can be done to make a difference for you.
Be curious, not obsessive: Knowledge about A.I. has a very short shelf life, and staying on top of every A.I. development in the coming months will be exhausting. I don’t suggest trying.
However, odds are that someone in your circle is obsessed. Pick their brain over coffee or lunch on a regular basis. (If that’s your personality, please share what you learn!)
There are plenty of reputable news organizations that are tracking all this that can provide excellent summaries. Then, when one finding/idea/technology is particularly interesting, or you think will impact you or your department, go from there.
Gather like-minded people. People often overlook how powerful the simple act of gathering can be. This is not a formal committee, rather an informal salon.
This allows you to gather and share notes. It will help you stay on top of the trends, generate new questions and ideas, and lead to collaborations.
Critically, it will help let you know you are not alone in the wilderness.
Experiment. Either by yourself or with a small group of collaborators. Keep the experiments small and short. See what happens. Repeat.
Ask for forgiveness, not permission: We know to work within or around a system. If you are working around the bureaucracy or someone, find a project you can keep under the radar.
This allows you the freedom to do what you find interesting, as you don’t need permission to do it. You can go where the project leads you, pivot, adapt, or abandon an experiment with no negative consequences—and no interference.
Share your results. This isn’t about publishing; this is just sharing what you have learned with the group you get together with and, if you choose, others. It will help generate more ideas and help get feedback and tips for next time.
Invite others to join you. If you are an early evangelist for A.I. and people become interested, invite them onto the playground with you. The more brains on A.I.—paying attention to its good and ill—the better.
College or University Level
Identify what problem you want to solve. You can’t eat the elephant in one go. What are the strategic areas that need the most attention? Narrow it down to two or three from there.
Create a coalition of the willing. Highly educated people, especially faculty, are critical-thinking experts. It is what they are trained to do, which makes them excellent at shooting down ideas they don’t like.
Don’t try to make converts; rather, invite those interested in the possibilities of artificial intelligence to the table—forget the rest. During these initial phases of exploration, this will help the group move quickly to make recommendations.
Set Aside Funds. It will make it easier to get faculty involvement if you can provide even modest funds to help explore new ideas. At the very least, set aside money to test new technology.
Small Experiments: Trial and error at this stage of artificial intelligence will likely be critical. Give people room to fail and try something new.
Advisory Group: Campus leaders need a group of trusted advisors to track what is going on in artificial intelligence inside and outside of higher education. Create an advisory team comprised of people inside your institution and outside experts. This group can track technology, ethics, challenges of implantation, and other issues and provide advice and guidance.
Ask Other Campuses: There is a weird condition on some college campuses that makes them very parochial. The attitude is, “If it isn’t created here by us, it’s no good.” Which is a shame. Because as we found out during our online exploration, people really enjoy sharing best practices and lessons learned. It’s part of the higher education culture.
Call for Proposals and Grants: Tap into the intelligence of your staff and faculty. After you have your initial working groups on your strategic areas, throw a wider net.
Odds are people are already thinking about ways to use artificial intelligence on campus. Invite staff and faculty from both the business side and the academic side to form teams and submit short proposals (I mean, really short) for artificial intelligence experiments that would have an immediate or near-term benefit. Make small grants available for the best ideas. For those experiments that prove most successful, fund further implementation.
Remember: The pace of A.I. evolution is exponential. What the technology can do today is likely to be eclipsed in 12 to 24 months, if not sooner. That means flexibility and adaptability—two words not commonly associated with higher education—must be built into how you approach A.I. individually and as an organization.
The ideas I’ve listed are certainly not exhaustive and don’t deal with some underlying issues. What do you think people should consider dealing with A.I.? Drop me a note at Steve@StephenLudwig.net and let me know your thoughts.