Lehigh Rings in New Year with New Summit Exploring Generative AI

“Generative AI is important for us as individuals, as a university and as a society,” Urban said. “‘Getting it right’ is critical for higher education and for Lehigh, and is perhaps more important for higher ed than any other industry.”

Urban also addressed the fear that had been raised in that morning’s panel regarding the loss of jobs to AI by explaining that generative AI can enhance what our students can do, thereby giving them an advantage.

“Our students won’t lose their job to AI,” he said. “But rather to someone who knows how to use AI better than them.”

To explore how Lehigh can better use generative AI to advance its mission, Urban announced the creation of a Generative AI Advisory Group that would report to him and Chris Cook, interim vice president for finance and administration. This group will consist of Bill Gaudelli, senior vice provost of educational innovation; Haiyan Jia, associate professor, Department of Journalism and Communication, Cognitive Science Program and Digital Media Lab; Ilena Key, chief technology officer; Luis Nunes Vicente, chair of Industrial and Systems Engineering; Dan Warner, vice provost for Admissions and Financial Aid, and Reihman

Summit attendees spent the afternoon engaging with the second panel which explored the effective and ethical use of AI in teaching, learning, and research at Lehigh. Faculty and staff from across the university highlighted the ways in which they were using AI to enhance their research and teaching, but did not shy away from potential concerns. Several panelists discussed their concerns regarding equity in representation for AI results, as well as the environmental impact of optimizing AI results.

After each panel, participants had conversations at their tables about use cases they were considering, along with questions and concerns.

Reihman concluded the day by underscoring the power of discussing our thoughts and fears regarding these topics.

“As an institution it behooves us to be intentional and deliberate as we have conversations about the implementation of generative AI at Lehigh,” he said. “We need to be aware of the risks and adopt these tools wisely — with courage and caution, skepticism and excitement. We have the opportunity to turn this into something that is reasonable and real, that will help us to become good scholars, good teachers and good humans.”

Story by Jessica Jackson.

AI@Lehigh Resources

To view the recordings and slides from this event, visit the AI@Lehigh Summit page.

For an overview of Lehigh’s approach to AI, including policies, guidance, and support, please visit ai.lehigh.edu.

Join LTS for Generative AI office hours held via Zoom on the last Friday of every month through April.

For past and upcoming LTS seminars and workshops, including seven seminars on GenAI, visit LTS Seminars.

To continue this conversation with visiting experts in the field, please attend one of our upcoming lectures below.

Upcoming Technology & AI Events:

Jessica Johnson | Humanities Center, the English Department, and Friends of the Lehigh University Libraries | Topic: Keywords for Black Louisiana: Witnessing Black Life & Community

Feb. 6 | STEPS 280 | Lecture 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.

In 2020, a group of scholars embarked on a journey to open a door into the lives of enslaved Africans on the Gulf Coast. Five years later, Keywords for Black Louisiana, part of the award-winning LifexCode: Digital Humanities Against Enclosure ecosystem, has created a blueprint for mapping Black life across time and space. This talk explores the past of Black resistance and the present role histories of slavery play in the fight for a just and humane world. Event and speaker details.

Ruha Benjamin | Radical Love Conference Keynote Speaker | Topic: The Future of Technology

Feb. 14 - Wood Dining Room - Reception 5 p.m. | Lecture 6 p.m.

Join Dr. Ruha Benjamin, Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and MacArthur Genius Fellow, for a community conversation about reimagining the future of technology. For more information, email marconinst@lehigh.edu and register here today!

Kevin Roose | Center for Ethics Hagerman Lecture | Topic: Role of Social Media & AI in Society

April 10- Packard 101 - Reception 4:45 p.m. | Lecture 5:30 p.m.

Kevin Roose, author and technology columnist for the New York Times will present this year’s Hagerman Lecture on the Role of Social Media & AI in Society. For more information, email ethicscenter@lehigh.edu and register here today!

Meredith Broussard |Friends of the Lehigh University Libraries & Humanities Center | “More than a Glitch”
April 17 - Location TBD

The Humanities Center and the Friends of the Lehigh University Libraries will co-host Meredith Broussard from NYU. Dr. Broussard is a data scientist and one of the few Black female researchers in artificial intelligence. In her new book, “More than a Glitch,” she synthesizes concepts from computer science and sociology to explore a range of examples: from facial recognition technology trained only to recognize lighter skin tones, to mortgage approval algorithms that encourage discriminatory lending, to the dangerous feedback loops that arise when medical diagnostic algorithms are trained on insufficiently diverse data. Watch for details in April.