Our Approach
Artificial intelligence is already at play in systems in use across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. With this this new wave of generative artificial intelligence tools, we are starting with three core principles:
- Embrace exploration
- Ensure equity
- Establish coherence
Technology is a human creation. Responsibilities should be front and center. We should also not operate out of a posture of fear, but responsible curiosity. With AI, if history is a guide, new jobs will be discovered. We don’t know what they are. It is easy to go down an apocalyptic rabbit hole. It is our default setting and where the mind can go when the ground feels as if it is shifting. How do we not think about a contraction of what we do but an expansion of our reach? What if it is an accelerant of reaching more people? Improving research? What would our role be if these are co-pilots not substitutes? How do we help people augment their work with AI? AI is unlikely to replace humans, but we should ask ourselves what we should do today without AI, and how do we honor that going forward? This is not some new key that never existed before. What are the things we choose not to do because of our values? How do we identify these activities and hang on to them?
These questions will guide how we use AI to (a) transform productivity by speeding up the things we already do, (b) improve the quality of our work by expanding our sense of creativity, exploring new solutions, and augmenting the capabilities of our tools, and (c) increase job satisfaction by removing mindless tasks so that we can focus on more meaningful work.
Informing Our Thinking
- Open Source with Christopher Lydon. “Moral complexity at MIT.” Episode first aired March 15, 2019.
- “Why AI Will Never Rival Human Creativity” by William Deresiewicz. Originally published on May 8, 2023.
- AI Today Podcast. “The Drawbacks and Challenges of Generative AI.” Episode first aired October 11, 2023.
- “The Neuron Daily”. A daily dose of AI news written by Pete Huang and Noah Edelman.