Artificial intelligence, better known as AI, may scare some, but it is clearly going to be part of our future, whether we are ready for it or not.
“If the workforce today demands that students receive some form of AI education, and we don’t provide them with those opportunities, then we are doing them a disservice,” said Lyndsay Munro, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology.
Munro has spent the last few yearswork and investigate how teachers can better use AI in their education. Munro is currently working with faculty from various disciplines at the University of Nevada to incorporate alternative assessments, both with and without AI, into their classrooms. While Munro acknowledges that some professors may be resistant at first (“Human nature is to be wary of things we don’t understand,” she says), it’s crucial to know more about what AI can and can’t do as we get started with it.
“It doesn’t think for us; AI has limitations,” Munro said.
One thing is clear: having access to this technology allows us to see things from different perspectives and generate new ideas based on the resources we already have. This is a fundamental idea for the new one-credit weekend course that Munro is teaching, AI in the wild: exploring artificial intelligence through nature.
One thing is clear: having access to this technology allows us to see things from different perspectives and generate new ideas based on the resources we already have. This is a foundational idea for the new one-credit weekend course Munro is teaching, AI In the Wild: Exploring Artificial Intelligence Through Nature.
Hosted at University of Nevada, Reno, Lake Tahoe, AI in the wild, takes place from October 17 to 19.
Munro hopes that over three days, students will see how interactive AI can be in any context, even in nature. AI in the wild will enable students to do hands-on activities outside the home and introduce them to the basics of AI. Students will integrate observations from the natural world with AI-powered tools, fostering both technical insight and creative problem solving.
Munro says she enjoys spending time on the Tahoe campus and being inspired by its natural beauty. Although nature and AI are on opposite ends of the spectrum, it is possible to bring them together, and do so somewhat creatively.
The one-credit weekend course has limited capacity, so interested students are encouraged to register quickly.
