BROOKINGS (9-1-26) — South Dakota State University has opened a “Center for AI Innovation and Emergent Technologies” to promote on-campus AI literacy.
Dennis Hedge is Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at SDSU. He said students need to be prepared to live and work in a world strongly influenced by AI… “We’re committed to make sure that when every student graduates from South Dakota State University they have a firm understanding. I mean, AI obviously is impacting out world. We want them to have an awareness so that they truly understand — where does AI really help and augment; but also there are a few potential pitfalls if utilized not properly.”
Victor Taylor is Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Extended Studies at SDSU. He said the center is intended to be multidisciplinary, serving the needs of students in all degree programs… “The goal is to promote AI literacy competency awareness — and ethics is key. So we want students to practice using AI appropriately, and faculty are committed to that too. So there is, on the instructional level, a lot of emphasis on making it clear — as much as you can, because it’s an evolving technology — what are some good uses of AI, what are some poor uses? Some of the poor uses are the cognitive offloading or using AI to write a paper and not contribute to it.”
He said new technological developments frequently require a societal adjustment period, and AI is no exception… “Every new technology faces that kind of scare moment — and then society gets past it, and then it adapts. And what we’re going to see probably in the next decade of so is what they call fabric AI — that AI will be so present and embedded in our world, we really won’t notice it anymore and we will have accommodated and adapted to it.”
Taylor said they want SDSU graduates prepared to succeed in that future world, already having been equipped with the skills needed to work effectively and ethically in a workplace shaped by emerging technologies.
— Brookings Radio News
