The University of Michigan has become the first major university in the nation to create its own artificial intelligence tools. The project was shepherded by Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Dr. Ravi Pendse.  

“We have two ways of looking at it at Michigan,” he said. “One way was we could say, we’ll step back and let’s wait out and see what the world will do, and then maybe we can react. The other way was, let’s thoughtfully approach this technology and let’s lead.” 

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Generative AI continues to fuel debates over its role in education at all levels. Some educators strictly forbid its use to avoid things like plagiarism and factual inaccuracies, others like University of Michigan Associate Professor David Jurgens, embrace the technology’s application in appropriate classroom settings.  

“As a university, we’re trying to figure out how to get students to engage with this in a productive, collaborative way, without sort of losing their critical thinking skills,” Jurgens said. One Detroit Producer Will Glover talked with Pendse, Jurgens and University of Michigan student Shantasia King about the AI tools and its impact in the classroom. 

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