Introduction
This page provides a deeper dive into Generative AI tools and answers some FAQs about AI. It follows and expands on the Lehigh CITL webpage devoted to Generative Artificial Intelligence. This guide is a work in progress and crowdsourced based on input from Lehigh faculty and staff. We are particularly interested in your contributions to build the section on "How to Use AI in Teaching." Please comment, below, with a summary of AI-related activity that you used in the classroom and we will include it!
For more Lehigh-specific resources, see:
The AI you know
You are already interacting with AI in some form. Google search uses autocomplete and algorithms to tailor results. Microsoft’s Bing is an AI-powered approach to the Internet. Alexa and Siri are voice-controlled virtual assistants backed by AI, machine learning, and Natural Language Processing. ChatGPT is an AI chatbot wherein a user inputs prompts, receives replies, and steers the conversation towards more refined outputs.
The AI you might not know
There are a multitude of free and premium applications based on AI. Such tools can caption videos, visualize citation networks, generate 3D models, create slide decks, produce images of fake people, and co-write essays. Developers also have the ability to interact with a large language model, or LLM, via an Application Programming Interface, or API.
More on ChatGPT
GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer. “Generative” means that ChatGPT, as a chatbot, generates text based on prompts. “Pre-trained” means that the language model was trained on a huge corpus of text — in this case, text from the Internet – prior to its release. “Transformer” has to do with how the model learns and studies its responses for coherency. OpenAI developed ChatGPT and released the app on November 30, 2022. It has a knowledge cutoff of September 2021, meaning that, among other things, you can’t ask current versions of ChatGPT to summarize major events in world news after September 2021. As of July 2023, GPT-4 is the latest LLM released by OpenAI. It was first offered on March 14, 2023 – also with a knowledge cutoff of September 2021. On July 6, a subset of users were given access to the API for GPT-4. Limited, non-programmatic access to GPT-4 is provided to new users who sign up for ChatGPT Plus, which currently costs $20/month.
The Landscape of AI
OpenAI made headlines around the world with ChatGPT. But there are many other types of AI and the landscape changes daily. Microsoft’s AI product, Bing, is baked into their browser Edge. Google also has a few versions of AI tools, including those built into Google Workspace tools like Docs, and Bard is getting a lot of attention. Unlike ChatGPT, these tools are connected to the Internet. There are also AI-powered tools for creating code and music. GenAI for image generation includes DALL·E 2 (also owned by OpenAI) and Midjourney, which works within Discord.
How to Use AI in Teaching
There are lots of creative ways to use AI in the classroom. These ideas center around Bloom’s taxonomy of higher-order thinking tasks such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Text-based AI is impressive when it comes to definitions, summaries, and contributing to the early stages of ideation. Here are a few ideas for activities and assignments that involve AI.
Utilize pre-made materials
The Princeton Dialogues on AI and Ethics created a set of fictional case studies that prompt reflection and discussion about issues at the intersection of AI and Ethics. The Civics of Technology (CoT) project has also created a curriculum to help students critically inquire into technology.
Assign a reading
Review our "Resources for directed learning about AI" and select a reading, website, or video to discuss in class.
Use an infographic
Facilitate paired or classroom-wide conversation by showing an infographic that summarizes current thinking about AI. Here are some examples for you to borrow!
Go to the movies
Representations of AI on TV and in the movies often play on our deepest fears related to technology, be it replacement of humans, loss of control, loss of livelihoods, state surveillance, or extinction. In some cases, artificial intelligence becomes psychopathic, megalomaniac, or world-conquering. A famous example is director Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), where the AI assistant named HAL wrests control from two astronauts to preserve its own existence (it avoids “decommissioning”). In Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Captain Marvel (2019), the Supreme Intelligence is the leader of the Kree civilization. The Supreme Intelligence-as-nemesis acts as a foil to the protagonist, Carol Danvers, who is “all too human” because she falls down, gets up, and is willing to face adversity again and again. A contrasting example to a murderous AI is a Siri-style AI named Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, who Joaquin Phoenix’s character falls in love with in Spike Jonze’s Her (2013).
Other examples of AI-involved movies and TV shows include Commander Delta from Star Trek, Jarvis from Iron Man, Terminator, Bladerunner, Metropolis, Interstellar, I, Robot, The Matrix, Wall-E, Ex Machina, and I Am Mother.
HAL, the Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer, from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
The AI-powered Supreme Intelligence, featured in comics like Captain Marvel. (Image source; artwork by Barry Kitson.)
Theodore Twombly and Samantha in Spike Jonze's Her (Image source.) In Jonze's love story, Theodore places Samantha in the breast pocket of his shirt so they can experience the world together.
Let's Talk!
Staff within Lehigh’s CITL and LTS includes Instructional Technologists, the Digital Research and Scholarship team, the Digital Media team, and subject librarians. We are happy to set up a time to talk one-on-one about AI, answer questions, discuss concerns, and how to integrate emerging technology into your classes. Please contact us directly or create a ticket. We’ll get back to you!