Professor and local businesses talk AI
Story by Anna Wilson
Over the last few years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has paved the way for technology to advance in ways we never imagined it would. It has allowed us to cross bridges to new worlds regarding healthcare, education, sports, automotive, and so much more. Did society have any idea that a robot could give an accurate patient diagnosis in a matter of minutes? Or that teachers would be able to use AI to help them create a better learning environment for students? All of these questions are receiving real answers as we continue to revolutionize AI technology, and it’s time to embrace it.
AI is changing the education system as we know it. AI can generate personalized learning reports for each student, which allows the teacher to receive feedback that can help them better their teaching styles. AI also allows students to be able to speak up in a classroom discussion without the fear of being judged by their peers. AI can also be used to detect plagiarism and ensure exam integrity. However, Liza Long an English professor at the College of Western Idaho who has embraced AI in her classroom, still has a few concerns. “If we use generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT to augment intelligence, that’s great,” Long told me. “But if we start using them to replace intelligence, we will all be in trouble.”
Long notes that AI also has issues, including hallucination. “It is very confident when it makes stuff up,” Long said. In her summer World Mythology course, she created a quick video demonstration of ChatGPT for students with one of the technical questions they would discuss in the course. “ChatGPT got it wrong,” she laughed. “I warned the students that I knew the answer was wrong because I have spent a lot of time and work learning this information. They need to think about why they are really in school–to get a quick credential, or to actually learn.” Long stressed that instructors need to prepare students for how AI tools will be used in the workplace. “We already have a major for anyone who wants to become a prompt engineer,” she said. “It’s called philosophy.” Prompt engineering is the process of structuring text that can be interpreted and understood by a generative AI model.
“Liberal arts and philosophy will be the most important things to major in now that we have generative AI.” – Stephen Wolfram, founder of Mathematica
AI has been changing the game of professional sports as well. According to Imaginovation Insider, “statistics show the AI segment in the sports industry will reach a value of 19.2 billion dollars by 2030.” Many professional leagues, including the MLB, NBA, and NFL, have all started to use AI to improve scouting reports, improve player performance, and make strategic decisions on the court or field. AI also helps create personalized training plans for athletes in order to reduce injury and increase player performance. AI isn’t just helping out the players, either. Recently, AI is being used to create a more immersive fan experience by creating Virtual Reality to help fans feel even more like they’re in the game. The LA Dodgers are using facial recognition AI to help fans find their seats, making the process easier and less stressful for everyone.
Local sports photographer, Mark Rezansoff, specializing in team and individual photos for a variety of local teams uses AI in day-to-day operations. “I increasingly rely on AI to enhance various aspects of my business. AI is instrumental in improving my email communication, generating social media captions, transcribing spoken words, utilizing optical character recognition (OCR), and analyzing sales data. Moreover, I’ve found AI to be an invaluable resource when I need programming assistance, summarizing YouTube videos.” Mark creates podcasts and uses AI to generate interview questions, summarizing podcasts for social media posts, and even generating questions for coach intake forms. Leveraging AI has revolutionized the efficiency and versatility of his business, and he’s discovering new ways to integrate this technology into workflows.
AI is also becoming increasingly more popular in the marketing industry. For example, Kenneth Brooks, owner of the Boise Tech startup, AdPrompt.ai explains that “A brands first-party data can be used to understand customers preferences and shopping habits, deloy AI-powered chatbots on the website or app to answer common queries, assist with shopping, and provide immediate responses, thus improving customer service efficiency. Inventory, price management, in-store experiences, and preventing fraud are ways to utilize AI.”
AI will continue to build new bridges and pave new roads to even more advanced technology in the years to come. It’s important to state that AI is uncharted territory, with debates on its usage of power. Generative AI is predicted to use 8-21% of the world’s total energy output by 2030. Climate change, anyone? These tools are energy vampires. Just like bitcoin. We are still climbing the mountain to what AI can ultimately become and how it can help. Using AI, we may find ways to solve climate change and explore galaxies beyond our own solar system. Either way, embracing our future and the technology we have created is how we continue to make our world a better place.
