AI & Applications

Embracing the Outlier Mindset: Suspicious Curiosity Implementing AI in Education Ecosystems - Patrick Parra Pennefather, Associate Professor, UBC

Please note this room (2.22) is located through the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) offices of the 2nd floor in Irving K Barber Learning Centre (IKBLC).

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Abstract:

Where do you position yourself in terms of integrating Gen AI in what you do at the university? How might we manage decades of sustained puffery around the technology of AI and its more recent offspring generative AI to receive more tangible benefits? This seminar is a call to action for all those that contribute to our teaching, research, and learning ecosystem vs a theoretical exercise intended to interpret how and if generative AI is influencing education. Recent criticism of Patrick includes: “Plays on the creative liminal zone between the integration of AI and its complete abandon”. “He’s like the guy yelling at the captain where to navigate the ship but it’s a loud storm, the captain can’t hear him, and there’s no telling if the ship will survive anyway”. “When Patrick speaks, he activates a part of you to listen beyond the words he’s saying. He energizes you to craft your own meanings.”

Bio:

Patrick has integrated AI systems within the design of sound since the mid-1990’s and used them in over one hundred design workflows for live and virtual media. He is the author of a book on Creative Prototyping with Generative AI, and his next non-fiction title will be published in February 2025, entitled Regenerating Learning. In the course of 18 months he has worked with secondary and post-secondary institutions, companies, and organizations, supporting their research and integration of generative AI systems. His research has included the integration of AI within workflows, disrupting public gen AI systems output for the sake of creative experimentation, and the co-development of tools that can support teams in managing their own data privately, securely, and with the intent of increasing accuracy. This past year he has spoken and presented at several AI symposia, conferences and networked events on the importance of developing core organizational values, to support the ethical, sustainable and creative integration of AI systems. He is co-appointed with Arts and Theatre and Film, and is a faculty in residence at the Emerging Media Lab where he supports pipeline development and industry partnerships based on over 15 years supervising emerging technology development.

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AI and Education Seminar Series: Tools, Impacts, and Future

This event is part of the AI and Education Seminar Series: Tools, Impacts, and Future.  This seminar series is co-hosted by the UBC Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTLT) and the UBC Centre for Artificial Intelligence Decision-making and Action (CAIDA).

These AI and Education seminars are designed to bring together scholars and educators from across the UBC campus to discuss the future of education in light of new AI tools such as Generative AI (GenAI). In these seminars, speakers will share their expertise in the field, their experiences with integrating AI tools into their teaching, and their perspectives on what the future might look like, as well as the responsibilities educators have in shaping that future.