thing 1: What is Generative AI? – 16 AI Things in 93 Days

This is a great start! I am fascinated by AI, yet wonder the long-term effects on the generation(s) that grow up with AI – both with thinking/creativity and physically (brain atrophy, maybe?). I did not have computer classes introduced in school until I was in 5th grade in 1976 (yes, I am that old) and I am blown away at how far technology has come, and how much I don’t know or understand. According to Socrates, I am wise, however, since I know what I don’t know. Thank you for the video and article!!

I can relate to this comment; I am new to AI and really never had much experience with computers until I joined a workforce in which everything was done by computer. At the age of 60 yrs. I am still learning. I still tend to fall back on pen and paper just because I trust it more. I think AI and computers are a good companion to traditional learning but as an employee of a college I see kids who are learning solely in a digital era but depend on that alone instead of a mix of that and good old common sense and logic to figure out everyday solutions to everyday problems.

GenAI tools are providing shortcuts to information and an easy, affordable assistant to deliver information that would otherwise take hours to research. The answers often need to be double-checked and fine-tuned, but they offer a great starting point. I hope to learn how to use the tools available as resources to be more efficient.

I think it has made a big splash because it makes it easier for people to write and/or create in less time and with less effort. As the article mentioned, it does concern me that use of GenAI will lessen peoples’ ability to think on their own (just like using GPS has lessened peoples’ ability to use maps and truly understand where they are and where they’re going).

I have primarily used GenAI to sharpen my writing — by writing something and then requesting an evaluation of what I’ve written and suggested improvements. I then decide whether or not I want to use the suggestions.

One of the coolest ways I used GenAI was to create a packing list for a 2-week trip to Europe. I provided information such as the dates of travel, locations we planned to visit, the fact that I planned to take only a carry-on and a backpack, etc., and it created a great packing list for me which even took weather into account!

The ability of generative AI tools to run on everyday digital devices makes it easily accessible and convenient for use. I, personally, have little experience with generative AI and to this point feel ambivalent towards it. I share concerns that it may undermine critical thinking skills and steer people to become less discerning. I hope through participation in these activities; I’ll reconsider the benefits of generative AI and feel more optimistic about it.

GenAI tools like ChatGPT have made a big splash, as they make everyday tasks like writing, problem-solving, and communication faster and more accessible to everyone. Personally, I’ve used GenAI to refine emails, explain technical concepts, and compare documents. Through this program, I hope to gain a better understanding of how to use GenAI more strategically and responsibly in professional settings.

Streamline work processes and increase productivity. I’m hoping to use AI to help check over my written work, and use prompts to help create documents, sort data, etc.

So far, I have not learnt much new. Hopefully, this will change as we proceed. My experience in trying to make AI generate Mathematical proofs showed that it acts like a not so good student, hiding the gaps and hoping they won’t be noticed. We’ll see how it goes…

Thanks for the pizza and the motivation to learn and increase my comfort with GenAI.

Now the real reflection after watching and reading: Setting aside time to think about GenAI with others at William & Mary is critical to my role as Dean of University Libraries. If GenAI becomes your “personal librarian” as noted in the article, where does that leave librarians and libraries? With each technological change, librarians have helped people use and appreciate the technology and understand the limitations. These changes have forced our eyes and effort to look and act in new ways.

GenAI provides the enticing combination of all the knowledge of the internet, the creativity of multiple minds, and the quickness of an immediate response. I find it a very powerful and helpful tool, but I always like to combine the GenAI product with my own ideas/text to come up with a mix of both my own personal ideas and those of GenAI.

GenAI tools are generating so much buzz because they allow users to quickly create deliverables that are outside of their current skillset. You may be an excellent wordsmith, but can you draft a video script complete with timestamps? Can you easily generate a conference agenda based on session submissions? Can you create a logo for your latest project? With GenAI, you can.

I think GenAI has had such a large impact in society because of its capabilities compared to previous technologies. We frequently see smaller steps forward in technology with occasional larger leaps, such as the printing press as mentioned in the article. I believe the ease of accessibility (anyone with a device and internet connection can access and use GenAI) is another factor contributing to the large societal response. The differing views on GenAI cause more conversations about it, adding to the size of the “splash.”

ChatGPT helps me in my daily life with emails and researching topics I would like to know more about.
I hope to learn more than ChatGPT to help me with daily work.

GenAI creates efficiencies — we can do a lot of things faster and with less effort with these tools. And we live in a culture and a time when fast, efficient, and effortless is valued. We are less committed to slow thinking and to the deliberative process. For a long time now — decades, probably, at least since the invention of the smart phone — we’ve heard that our attention spans are shrinking. At the same time, demands on our attention are increasing. I think AI is making such a big splash in society because we feel like we might get some of our time and attention back. I just hope we choose to use it for things that are slow and attentive.

I do not have much experience with GenAI, except that my initial thoughts are negative. My experience is based on discussions with other faculty about how GenAI is promoting cheating among our students. I am participating in this 16-in-93 program to learn about GenAI’s usefulness. This first module has already started to help me with this. The one thing that is concerning is the fact that GenAI programs can “hallucinate” and provide false information. My question is: how can we use AI-generated information if every bit of information needs to be checked?

I think generative AI tools have made a splash in our society because many people realize the impact it can have in their daily lives, whether the impact is good or bad. Some people think AI tools should be regulated and have the generated things labeled or tracked while others, who are usually the people profiting from them, think it should be a free for all. One example I have seen of people using AI is using them to create books. By generating story text and images someone could create one, or fifty, children’s books in no time. That same person could also use it to create a wildlife survival guide on a topic that they have no expertise in and hope their generated information is correct.

I’m fascinated by AI and its potential, but I also wonder about its long-term effects on future generations, particularly how it might impact thinking, creativity, and even brain development. I’ve used ChatGPT to rephrase emails, break down complex concepts, and help with travel planning. Hopefully this program will help me use AI more strategically and responsibly, especially given concerns that it might diminish independent thinking.

I think it has made a big splash because it has allowed people to work smarter and not harder. I am old school and I think that it has made our younger generations a little lazy and giving them the ability to miss some key skills in communications. I hope this training will give me a better insight on all that AI has to offer and to change my thinking on the whole idea.

I think GenAI tools have made such a splash in society in part because they promise to democratize skills and knowledge, in ways that make the printing press and the Internet look quaint. GenAI can be a hard-working research assistant who uncovers information much faster than you ever could. GenAI can be your endlessly patient after-school teacher, explaining concepts that you found hard to grasp in class. GenAI can be a personalized, supportive companion who provides a safe space to talk through your ideas, plans, and worries.

But behind every opportunity that GenAI presents, there is a risk. The research assistant hallucinates and makes up facts, figures, and sources. The after-school teacher ends up doing your work for you–meaning you never really learn. The personalized companion is more loving and understanding than the real people in your life.

I’m familiar with and have been using GenAI tools for a long time. In 2020, I sent an email to my family with the subject line, “Would you like to see the future?”, sharing a blog post about GPT-3, a ground-breaking deep learning model from OpenAI. Two years later, ChatGPT would be released.

Though I appreciate how useful GenAI can be, I’m deeply concerned about the far-reaching implications of its widespread adoption, especially given recent research from MIT (brain imaging studies) linking the use of GenAI to the erosion of critical thinking skills and cognitive decline. For this reason and other ethical concerns, I’ve pulled back on my personal use of GenAI.

Yet these tools are here to stay, and they promise so much. I’m looking forward to understanding more about the current state of GenAI and what we should know going forward about how to use these tools, if we choose to do so. Thank you W&M Libraries and IT for putting together this course and these resources!

This very much reflects both my experience with AI tools and my concerns about it. Given the power of these new tools and their ease of use (at least for simple purposes), it seems inevitable to me that students will use them. I think it is vital for us as educators and scholars to develop our own critical understandings of the pros and cons of these tools and then develop (and redevelop) assignments and practices for and with our students that use the tools to their fullest potential while also helping our students build the fundamental skills they need to do work without AI tools, to review the work they do with AI tools, and to think critically about both when and when not to use AI tools. We’re going to have to learn a lot, fast, and be inventive!

Thanks for bringing us together. This absolutely crucial work!

Our society has grown accustom to convenience and quick service. Packages arrive “same-day”, Insta-Pot meals are ready in minutes, and what’s more, these things can be done with just a few clicks or button presses. GenAI tools complete the long arduous tasks of yesteryear in a manner of seconds…with just a few button presses and clicks…with very minimal thought required by the user.

The ability to pull together so much information coupled with the ease of modifying the results by continued conversation with a human-like platform is why it’s made such an impact.
I mostly use GenAI tools to polish up emails and other written documentation. I’m hoping to expand my knowledge about how to use it and customize it. I’m also want to learn more about the negative impacts it may pose on society.

Learning the differences between traditional and generative AI was enlightening, I think I put all AI in one bucket, and it’s not a particularly positive bucket. Traditional AI feels safer, there are parameters that humans have designed to cage it in, generative feels almost feral or wild, and completely uncontrollable. AI brings wonder and awe at the possibilities, how can this invisible thing create all that in seconds, half seconds, nano seconds? And at the same time, in our race to ever evolve technologically, to become more efficient, faster, have every single thing at our fingertips at infinite speed…we end up losing what makes us human, and grounded to the world around us. When we start not caring or even recognizing if something is real, what does that say about us? If we give up the power of our brains to think and analyze, what kind of animal do we become? Do we devolve after millenia of evolution and achievement, now that we hand the reigns over to a processor who can type our emails and letters and make us happy by showing us videos of cats eating dumplings? I start this AI journey exceptionally skeptical, and while I don’t need to change my opinion, to seek knowledge is inherently human, and I’ll hang on to that.

It’s all very fascinating and scary at the same time. I have found it helpful for saving time with emails and other admin things, but do worry about the loss of creativity and critical thinking.

GenAI enables users to be more productive or efficient, completing things in a fraction of the time with less brain power utilized, which is a big reason why I think it’s been so impactful on society. We only have so much time in a day and there are constantly competing priorities; anything that can either hold our attention or streamline longwinded tasks is praised. We see it all the time with marketing, as companies are doing everything they can to have consumers spend their time (and eventually money) on them. By reducing the amount of time one spends researching something, it means that people will have more time to be more productive or consume more things.

I am a big proponent of traditional AI and it has led to amazing breakthroughs in specialized fields. I am highly skeptical of generative AI, in part because the hallucination rate can be very high and while it may create something “new” there is a lot of homogeneity in what it creates, so there is a bit of a sameness to it. I would like to spend less time doing rote/routine tasks and more time on things that need creativity, problem solving, human skills that doesn’t require me to spend a lot of time proofreading and fact checking everything.

I find that the use of both Traditional and Generative AI have a very real place in my future work place and not a far off one at that. The hesitation that comes when I go use my Co-pilot or ChapGPT is reassuring to me that I still understand that I am interfacing with AI and that I am relying on it for some part of my job or daily life; that gnaws at me some as I grapple with just how fast I want it to be a bigger part of my day. Will I even have a say as AI continues to evolve. I think the most difficult is how we manage our youth and what we can do to foster critical thinking!

I use co-pilot almost everyday at work. It makes my job easier. But, I do worry about the trade off. Am I going to lose the ability to do the things that I ask AI to do for me? For example I used to know all my friends, and families phone numbers. Once I started using a cell phone I didn’t need to memorize phone numbers anymore. So what is the tradeoff?

I think many people have found Gen AI exciting because it is able to produce very quickly the kind of writing that we really don’t want to do– send emails, write summaries, etc. I found the article on technological revolutions interesting because the author relies heavily on the word “information” without investigating the truth or falsity of the “information” disseminated. The printing press was very used for disseminating information on how to recognize and punish witches, and we have seen the power of social media to spread disinformation about elections, COVID, etc. If Gen AI is the next technological revolution, it is likely to be just as a much a tool of disinformation as previous technological advances.

Regarding technology, I am always reminded of the T.S. Eliot quote “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” I worry that with so much information at our fingertips, we may lose our ability to think, to problem-solve, to question. Generative AI can be a great tool, but we have to use it as one tool in our toolbox; it is not the only tool.

Absolutely agree with both smpatterson and alblazer. GenAI has made an incredible leap forward, but like every major technological revolution—fire, the printing press, the internet—it carries dual potential: to enlighten or to deceive. I share the concern that GenAI, if left unchecked, will amplify our worst instincts—fear, dominance, violence—because it reflects us. That’s why I propose William & Mary should develop its own ethically-grounded AI, one that is air-gapped from the broader internet and intentionally designed without these harmful human impulses. If we teach it peace, maybe we can finally learn it ourselves. – Yes, I loaded all your comments into ChatGPT and then gave it some prompts upon who I agree with most and then to give me a one paragraph reply. Have a nice day!

The shrinking down of information when we research online (in google search result previews, or more recently, in a AI summaries) pre-selects for us what is available to read about all topics. It doesn’t seem like “many to many” dissemination of information, but more like “ones to many” information distribution. Like printing press owners or the book publishers are choosing which information is available on the page for the public. It still goes on – the few powerful parties that own/run/build search engines chose what information is easily available for consumption. Even if your AI Agent buddy is researching from favored websites.

It was interesting to note the difference between the two different AI forms. This was something I was not aware of. I have used only a little AI so far but I am intrigued to learn more about how it can be used to make things easier when doing my job; however, caution must be used by users to be sure that what we are using is in fact accurate.

I’ve been using AI as a brainstorming assistant for creative work, and to help with code for EPUBs when we have specialized formatting or functionality. It often gets things wrong on the first try, but I’ve learned to give better prompts and also to question its responses. Gemini once told me, “I’m sorry about that. I’m still learning.” I am concerned about the amount of AI-generated content out there.

I think GenAI (and AI in general) has made a “big splash” in part due to its newness. People are fascinated by new technology and pushing the limits of what we thought is possible. In some respects, this optimism is warranted. We’ve seen how scientists are able to reconstruct DNA sequences in mere hours while before it took decades. On the other hand, we should consider more the ethical implications of AI. Are the sources used to train the models really considered “fair use”?

I use it to do things I really can’t on my own — generate images for PowerPoints for example. But so far have resisted using it as a shortcut for things that I can do, like writing.

I will be very interested to see how generative AI continues to be cited and referenced in scholarly literature. APA does not have a provision for this in the 7th edition, but there are guidelines for citing digital sources and software.

I believe the big splash effect happens whenever something new hits the scene. Because it’s new and people generally don’t know what to expect, we “anticipate” how it will affect our lives and those around us, e.g.; future generations will not build critical thinking skills. Many similar things happened around the invention of the TV (it will rot your mind), role playing games (it desensitizes kids to violence), the cell phone (older generations say “I survived childhood without a cell phone”), etc. In time, it will become everyday fodder, and we will have evolutionarily adapted to new ways of thinking, doing and being, and moved on to other “worrisome” types of technology.

I think the main reason GenAI is such a hot topic is because of its potential. Not anything is is guaranteed to do or not do, but what it could be and do – the unknown. We are naturally uncomfortable with the unknown, and that tends to outwardly present as fear, especially when the flame is stoked by those who are uneducated on a topic.

We have the ability to reflect on big moments in history and learn from them *because* of written records, photographs, and other forms of communication that was all new at one time. GenAI does not have to be destructive or a threat to society – it is how we collectively decide to use it that will shape our future.

With the advance of technology, worker productivity increases exponentially while compensation for those doing the bulk of the work does not. My main concern is that GenAI will become a tool used by the many to continue to increase the wallets of the few. I’ve used it in my work when stuck on yet another email that has to go out (this wasn’t an issue when we only had typewriters…), and it helps to get that task, and others, completed. Where does it go from there though? Will more and more continue to be added to our plates if we “work smarter”, ultimately forcing us to work harder? Will this tool again increase our productivity in a time when our wages don’t even properly reflect it and when raises don’t keep up with the increase of the cost of living? If we are expected to adopt this technology to aid in our work load, an increase in salary must accompany it – and not a percentage based one that continues to promote inequity across the board.

Most of my experience with AI has been unintentional at this point, but I have dabbled a bit with writing summaries and such. Creating images /illustrations has been fun. While I’m fascinated by the capabilities and hopeful for positive outcomes, I’m made wary by things like hallucinations. While AI can be just unhelpful (like chat services sometimes), the thought of it actually going rogue is distressing! HAL?

I have very limited experience with GenAI. I believe it has the potential to enhance efficiency. Since lack of efficiency puts me at a professional disadvantage, I have resigned myself to learning more about GenAI starting with this bite-sized program.

I think our culture thrives in trying to create efficiencies, which is why generative AI has made such a splash. As a millennial who has lived through the internet revolution, I see many similar patterns within generative AI. What gives me pause is the trends around how much damage unfettered internet access has done to the generations after me – tremendous rates of anxiety, loneliness, etc. as the result of limitless access to information, social media, and the erosion of embodied life together. I worry AI will do the same if we don’t put ethical, thoughtful boundaries in place. I use it fairly often at work, but I do find there to be value, relationally and psychologically, to a creative process apart from copilot or chatGPT.

The splash of Generative AI is the vast variety of uses the technology provides. I do appreciate it and use it in my work for emails, synthesizing multiple sources for summaries and reports, learning coding, and suggestions on grammar and tone of my writing. As adgrimes mentions, let’s not lose awareness that technology does impact mental health and is not a replacement for relationships and the creative process.

First, I cringed at the idea of from the Bernard Marr video that “generative AI is incredibly useful for creative applications like writing or music.” Consider me old-fashioned, but I write to think. The process of putting ideas down on paper lets me explore the nuances of an idea and get to the really important point. Creativity is the end, not the output, and I fear AI will mostly make us dumber. Further, if too much of my daily writing is for emails and not the thoughtful work I like to do, isn’t it an simpler and more honest (maybe not easier) solution to talk to my colleagues about emailing less (generating less busy work) than it is to rely on the energy-ravenous black boxes of a generative AI model?

Traditional AI instead of generative AI seems closer to what is actually useful for most of us in terms of speeding up repetitive or set tasks, within a very defined scope. I like the chess example, because if I have a chess AI, I can trust that it will beat me in Chess every time, but I don’t need to worry about it hallucinating that we’re playing Monopoly. I think the single-purpose tools are probably a better fit for our current understanding and familiarity with AI.

I liked mjpatterson’s example of an air-gapped W&M AI system. That way we can be explicit about what each tool is good for, how it was designed, and what not to use it for. Even with simple woodworking tools, if you use a axe or an adze to do the other’s job, there’s a good chance it’s going in your foot.

I also reflect on the early days of steam to electric transition. Factories dropped electric machines in the same places on the assembly line where steam machines had been, with no real gains in productivity. It was only when they made use of the smaller size of electrical equipment did they reconfigure the layout of their assembly lines to gain real productive boosts. It required a new way of thining about the problem. I think that we are in a cognitive version of this with AI, and I am certainly carrying into this course the skepticism that we are going to make those cognitive leaps in time to figure out how to use AI for good. Rather I think it’ll get used for evil and the same old forms of making the rich richer, and likely feed off itself so much it becomes unrecognizable to the human brain. “Marketed as the ultimate democratiser of knowledge” arguments seem to rely only on making information easier to consume. While I’m glad the article pointed out the risk of digital amnesia, it could have said more about AI-generated falsehoods having deleterious effects on not just the individual getting fed an over-fit stream of comfortable and consumable information, but on the notion of what knowledge is and that there are commonly agreed-upon facts.

There has always been a narrative that technology is the solution to our gaps in knowledge and ability, to give us a competitive edge in our production and creativity. Yet it also brings new problems and concerns as new technology has impacted jobs, brought ethical concerns, and impacted how we learn and work. I see the same with Generative AI–there is the capacity for expanding our accessibility to knowledge, while also generative concerns about “truth”, bias, and critical thinking.

I’m looking forward to critically thinking about how AI already impacts my life and how to thoughtfully investigate and integrate what could be helpful.

I think the (seemingly) sudden existence of not only one, but multiple different tools has helped generative AI make such an impact so quickly. The competition between platforms has meant that companies were forced to quickly address mistakes, like AI coming up with fake or misleading answers, to not lose favor among the users. The faster that companies prove usefulness to the users, the faster it will be accepted into mainstream use.

I think one reason it’s made such a big splash is because it’s cut out so much of the work in shifting through many sources to compile knowledge. However, there are definitely lots of concerns about the accuracy of information. To give a personal example, as the parent of a new baby, I am frequently googling many questions. However, I find that the Google AI search results at the top includes lots of information that is not relevant to the specific question that I was asking. As AI tools improve rapidly I wonder how quickly AI search summaries will improve in accuracy.

I think generative AI tools are popular because 1) many are free, 2) they available for download to anyone who has a computer or smartphone, and 3) they are easy to use while increasing efficiencies in our personal and professional lives. It’s a fascinating (and sometimes scary) time to live. Generative AI has changed our world, and I hope humankind will find ways to use it ethically and for the benefit of society.

Gen AI is exciting and scary at the same time. One of the big challenges will be for educators to keep up and ahead of potential pitfalls. Education is so important! Not only do we need to learn the best ways to use AI, we will also need to learn the skills that may be loss due to its use.

GenAI is a one stop shop, because it eliminates the need to scour the internet looking for information. But you should fact check the information for accuracy.
I am a novice using GenAI, I just started using AI in April of this year, after a friend showed me how to do a basic research. So, I do not have any real experience with AI. Currently I just use it to polish my writings, even with that, it tries to change to tone of what I wrote.

I think the big splash of GenAI is because it eliminates the scary blank. The period in which we used to thrash about waiting for what we know and where we want to go to coalesce into a new idea. Now you write the prompt, hit enter, and you have something. But I have experienced a weird disorientation with AI results. Not that the generated ideas are bad, just that the thrashing to get my own idea leaves me in a solid place to move forward with it, and the instant idea does not. Like when you copy someone else’s test answer, but you don’t know how they got it. I feel I’m trailing, not leading.

Exactly! It’s that simple- and that scary. Not knowing if anything you read/see/hear from others is backed up by “…debate, contention, and challenge…” rather than just being an answer, or product, of questionable accuracy and depth. I kinda love the scary blank. It’s the journey.

I believe GenAI tools like ChatGTP have become so popular because we live in a “want it/get it now” society. Information moves extremely fast. Therefore, it doesn’t surprise me that people want to be able to produce information just as quickly. The issue is that it doesn’t seem like GenAI produces new information as much as it replicates existing ideas in new formats. This is an issue we must address with our students.

GenAI has become popular in creative media because it allows people to see their ideas brought to life without the need to collaborate or compromise.

Bentley notes how GenAI has exploded how we think about authority, authorship and veracity–I completely agree–but would like to ask to what extent our current notion of authorship was constructed by the printing press. Prior to that technology, medieval texts did not have the same sense of a singular author as often as now. Texts could be compendiums, communal and or sacred objects, written on and in the margins through generations, by many different people. We are at a new moment now, certainly, and I find some comfort in the idea knowledge has evolved through technology before.

GenAI allows people to find answers to their questions quickly. It is like a conversation where the user can ask for clarification or pose other questions and the AI will build upon the previous answer. It makes it possible to get the information you need without scrolling and clicking on results in a search engine. I think this can be both a positive and a negative thing.

I found the video and article interesting, and I am looking forward to learning more in the other lessons.

I know it has improved my work flow. I used to have to read a chapter, write notes, type notes, edit notes, combine with other notes, rinse and repeat. Now I find the digital copy of a book, have gen AI create notes, check for accuracy, edit notes, rinse and repeat, which saves a lot of time. But this only works well because I have a lot of experience and mostly know what the end product should look like. Another reason is problem solving. It used to be I would do a search to find a forum/post/paper written by someone with the same problem, then I would look at their answer to see if it solved my own problem. Let’s say half of my searches in the past were for these sorts of problem-solving investigations (as opposed to just reading and learning about a topic). Now I prompt gen AI and it responds with many possible solutions. It still takes some work to arrive at the “best” solution, but I didn’t have to dig around to find possible answers. It has mostly eliminated costly trial and error. But again, this works for me because I have a lot of experience with the process of problem solving and troubleshooting, so I can quickly identify good solutions.

I think that GenAI has made a big splash in our society because it addresses two pressing challenges caused by our nature as humans to avoid discomfort. First, as worker productivity continues to climb, so do expectations, which results in less time and greater cognitive strain on workers. AI offers an alleviant by completing routine tasks quickly and reducing mental load. Second, the overwhelming volume of online content makes it time-consuming and difficult to sift through find useful and accurate information. GenAI streamlines this process by synthesizing and clearly communicating information in a concise manner. *This response was crafted with the assistance of generative AI to help organize and express my ideas clearly and efficiently.

I have primarily used generative AI in my personal life to help modify recipes quickly and suggest ways to do things, such as home repair, organization, etc. I am currently exploring ways to use it to help create training materials and job aids for my work.

Generative AI has been powerful for me as a brainstorming tool — I almost think of it as a smart postdoc who can generate and challenge ideas. I appreciate its ability to personalize output and to generate responses with an appropriate tone (formal, conversational, etc.) I have found it to be the most helpful when I have some expertise and opinion about the topic we are discussing, so that I can detect hallucinations.

The modern workforce is under constant pressure to be a jack of all trades, wearing many hats, and often juggling more responsibilities than one person reasonably should. When a tool emerges that can lighten that load, we jump at the chance to use it. For example, I no longer have to read an email three times to ensure it sounds polished and grammatically correct, something that, in hindsight, was a poor use of my time. Generative AI’s greatest strength right now is its ability to simplify and speed up these menial tasks. However, its potential to significantly reshape, and even overtake, parts of the workforce is clear, which is why I believe it should be subject to thoughtful regulation.

I think GenAI is making such a splash because it seems to have limitless potential. Almost anyone can create something new (for better or worse) just by writing a few sentences. I do worry about the environmental impact that these services have on our planet as well as the ability for the dissemination of inaccurate or harmful information. I personally have not used ChatGPT or any of the other services much, but I did use it recently to create a planting schedule for my garden. For that, it was very useful (and it even created a spreadsheet for me without me asking)!

Generative AI has made such a big splash, in part, because it is a safe place to ask for assistance with a multitude of tasks in a way you never could before. Where else could someone ask for help (free help) writing a cover letter for a specific job, based on your resume and the job description, or ask for help writing a love letter, or an example of schedule for performing a job hazard analysis if you had no experience with those things.

I am very interested in how GenAI can help me become more efficient and help me “do more with less.” I’ve been working with it for the past six months or so, with figuring out how to write better prompts to get the information I’m looking for quicker. One interesting thing I was able to use ChatGPT to create a scavenger hunt for my kids while we visited Tuscany to help them pass the time!

I feel it’s made such a big splash because of the ease of use, instant answers (whether correct or not) and the ability it provides for most to “think” less and complete tasks faster.

GenAI tools have made a “big splash” because they allow users to create different types of content quickly and with little effort. I personally have not used GenAI, but I realize that I should learn more about them and to have an open mind to their potential. Who knows, maybe I will start using GenAI after going through these modules. That being said though, I am very concerned about the effects of constant digital influence (of all kinds) on our youth, especially on the degradation of critical thinking. As with most things, it is probably wise to use in moderation.

I have fairly limited experience with Generative AI, essentially some conversations with a colleague who has a data science background and coming across random YouTube videos illustrated with Generative AI art or animations. The fact that Generative AI can be used for entertainment purposes as in such videos is probably part of what is contributing to its popularity, as I think another user referenced above. However, the fact that William & Mary is expending the resources to create this course suggests at least the perception that it can be or will be an important workplace tool. I’m not interested in the capacity of Generative AI to synthesize information for me, since I am only confident in my understanding of something if I have done the cognitive work to synthesize it myself. I will be interested to see if this course does point me toward capabilities of Generative AI that I actually do find useful or desirable.

I am amazed to think about the potential for generative AI. I think it fascinates and also scares people, which is probably the right response!

I first really encountered Chat GPT at a board committee meeting back in 2022. One of our younger board members typed in a query about well known alumni of W&M. It came back with some correct answers, but many which were absolutely false. That made me very wary of believing the data. Of course, I’m sure things have improved since then.

Personally, I have used AI to help with writing, when I am blocked and looking for ideas. Typically I do a lot of editing, but I do find that the ideas can be good, and tend to get my creative thinking back on track. I think AI can be beneficial, but with care. I am interested in learning more.

I am cautious about AI. I believe it has a great potential and will definitely can be used to help people achieve new creative milestones, but there are a lot of hidden dangers as well. Having such “creative friends” whisper to one’s year is nice, but if the original training for these stories is biased, or incomplete, or simply false, it becomes just too easy to affect the minds of people.

Generative AI emerged suddenly for most people and its future impact is unknown, all we are promised is that it will be large, and the change has already happened, more than we are aware of. It is constantly in the news– I dream of one day in my life without having to hear or read about AI at all. I have been through some of the course on generative AI offered by the University of Michigan, so I am interested to see what is different in this course.

I think Gen AI tools like ChatGPT have made such a big impact because they make complex tasks—like writing, coding, and research—faster and more accessible to everyone. The tools are being improved very fast – GPT 2.0 vs the 5.0 we have today are very different (even though they are one year apart). I hope to learn not just how to use these tools effectively, but learn about the limitations of AI.

I believe that GenAI has had a significant impact on society because, as we move forward with technology, it becomes increasingly ingrained in our everyday lives. Humans have always wanted to make life easier, hence why we drive cars instead of horses and we text instead of write letters. There are many technological advancements that have led to a better quality of life. However, with everything, there are downsides and through this program I hope to understand how GenAI can be used as a tool as well as the potential downsides of what and how it is used.

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