Artificial Intelligence Across Borders

A.I what is it, where is it going, and where is it taking humanity?

The textbook definition of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is “the science of making machines that can think like humans.” During a Great Decisions presentation on March 20th, Professor of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Logan Mayfield discussed some advancements of A.I.

Mayfield provided many examples of the technological advances that have happened since the invention of A.I. A big point is the invention of things like ChatGPT, a tool many students are familiar with. ChatGPT allows users to go online to insert a prompt, and the A.I. will generate a response.

A.I impacts academia as well.  Not only allowing students to earn credit for an essay that isn’t theirs, but according to Mayfield, ChatGPT and other A.I. can generate computer code potential allowing students in his courses to not generate the code themselves. “All that you can really do is stress the importance of students submitting their own work,” said Mayfield. ChatGPT responses aren’t fully exempt from plagiarized detection.

Some of the positives of the advancements in A.I. come from the medical field. After feeding A.I. tons of data and records, the A.I. can help in diagnosing patients with illnesses like Alzheimer's disease. When asked how these A.I. even got to the point that they could accurately diagnose these diseases, Mayfield said, “You give them tons of records and data to learn, and then once they've built that understanding, you give them the exact same information that you would give a doctor and the A.I. are just better at the diagnosis.”

Patrick Curry Contributing Writer