AI Literacy Week Events Bring Campus Experts Together to Critically Explore New Technologies

It’s coming. It’s here. It may have even written this article (it didn’t).

Whether hailed as a life-changing, labor-eradicating technosavior or vilified as the harbinger of a creeping dystopia, one thing is certain: AI is a perplexing and rapidly-evolving bundle of technologies that demands to be reckoned with.  

UK Libraries is bringing together experts, innovators, and educators from across the university to help cut through the often mystifying rhetoric and to critically explore the uses, possibilities, and false promises of generative AI. 

From Monday, Oct. 7 to Friday, Oct. 11, join us every day in The Stacks: Digital Scholarship Center for an illuminating slate of guest speakers, seminars, and even a human vs AI showdown.

Our AI Literacy Week events will provide an overview of what AI is, how it works, and the opportunities it presents for conducting research. Attendees will also learn strategies for talking about AI with students and using the technologies in the classroom.

UK librarians will be joined by Brent Harrison, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and AI experts from UK’s Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching. 

“We’re very excited to be able to bring a broad range of voices together to tackle this topic, from campus leaders and members of new research initiatives to computer scientists and our own information experts,” said Jennifer Hootman, Coordinator of Digital Scholarship & Data. “This is the wonderful function of The Stacks: it’s a place where experts, thinkers, doers, and dreamers can come together to make connections, share knowledge, and push conversations forward.”

Sessions will be held from 1pm to 2pm daily throughout the week. Registration is required. Below, find detailed descriptions of each session and links to register.

Please contact TheStacks@uky.edu with any questions about the events.

AI Literacy Week: Research & Digital Citizenship in a Changing World

The Promises and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence: How Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Can Change the Work We Perform

• Monday, October 7
• 1pm – 2pm
• The Stacks
• Over the last two years, there has been a staggering increase in the number of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems available for public use. One could say that we are currently in the midst of a golden age of AI. While these tools are powerful and can change how we interface with technology, they are often misunderstood and misused. This is often because these tools are typically used as a black box in which users do not understand how the underlying ML or AI system is making decisions. In this opening talk of The Stacks AI Literacy Week, Brent Harrison, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, will attempt to open up the black box to outline the potential that these tools have and outline some common mistakes that people make when using these tools.
• Register here.

Getting Started with AI at UK with the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence

• Tuesday, October 8
• 1pm – 2pm 
• The Stacks
• The Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence (CAAI), UK’s own hub of AI expertise, works with students and researchers across disciplines to develop innovative uses of AI tools. As part of The Stacks AI Literacy Week, this session will cover some of CAAI’s core research areas, newly released self-service tools, and opportunities to get involved with their work.
• Register here.

AI Literacy and Research: Teaching Students How to Critically Evaluate AI-Generated Information

• Wednesday, October 9
• 1pm – 2pm
• The Stacks
• Generative AI tools are constantly in flux rapidly making advancements every day. Many instructors agree that teaching students why and how to evaluate information generated from AI tools is important but find it challenging to implement. As part of The Stacks AI Literacy Week, in this session you'll learn some practical strategies for teaching students effective habits of mind and how to evaluate AI-generated information sharpening their own research processes.
• Register here.

ChatGPT as Research Assistant? A Hands-On Experiment

• Thursday, October 10
• 1pm – 2pm
• The Stacks
• Where do generative AI tools like ChatGPT fit into the research process for students, and how does it compare to other methods, like web searches or library resources? Join our research librarians in putting ChatGPT to the test during this AI Literacy Week session. Participants will work in groups to respond to the same research question using one of three different tools: ChatGPT, Google, and UK Libraries resources. They will reflect on the methods they use to produce useful results and compare them to the methods used by other groups. Together, we will put ChatGPT in context with other research tools to identify its strengths and limitations.
• Register here.

Beyond the Hype Cycle: Generative AI in Work, Learning, and Life

• Friday, October 11
• 1pm – 2pm
• The Stacks
• We are approaching the two-year anniversary of the public release of ChatGPT, which ushered in not only a dynamic, sometimes frenetic pace of technological development and use cases, but also a similarly energetic discussion on the value, meaning, and implications of generative AI for the future of work, learning, and life. There are many competing claims among experts, thought leaders, and non-experts alike. Many of these claims fall along the "hype cycle," a roller coaster pattern of enthusiasm and cynicism regarding how this still-emerging technology will or won't improve—even revolutionize—aspects of our lives. In this session, directors of the UK Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (which has served as a campus leader and resource on the rise of generative AI) will unpack the research as well as the speculation on the role of generative AI for our work, learning, and lives. We'll review where we are now with generative AI and look to some concrete possibilities that step out of the hype cycle.
• Register here.