For the last several years, I have tried not to be in the business of chasing trends. My early days leading ed tech organizations, I was always looking to adopt the next digital promise — the use of the internet, the new world that Web 2.0 gave us, mobility, tablets, blah. I’ve done a lot of thinking about the impact of all that evangelism and much of it isn’t immediately measurable. Disruptive technology is often an investment in future returns, but it requires playing a longer game. With AI, I’m not sure if that holds true — the returns may be much more immediate.
To me, that nudges me toward thinking more about the diffusion of AI to as diverse of a population as possible across campus. In today’s world, I can’t think of another digital investment one could make to immediately advance human potential holistically. Can you?
Three principles emerge in my mind: shrinking the digital divide, scaling AI expertise, and building strategic partnerships that fuel innovation.
- Shrinking the Digital Divide: AI has the potential to change everything, but only if we make it accessible. Providing AI tools to all members of the community will foster creativity at scale, from every possible perspective.
- Scaling AI Expertise: We are a community that’s engaged, curious, and ready to make change. Our advantage is that community. We should be scaling the expertise that’s already here and providing thought leadership across campus.
- Building Strategic AI Partnerships: I know that what we plan to do will require partnerships and that is how I am approaching these opportunities. I believe as the ways that we operate will only improve by leveraging this moment to modernize operations and infrastructure.
Here we are back to the start of something new. We get to build it from the ground up. That’s pretty exciting.