Winter 2023 AI Symposium: “Navigating the AI Revolution”

Bellevue College’s XR Lab and eLearning sponsored the Winter 2023 AI Symposium “Navigating the AI Revolution” held on March 10. The symposium provided a college-wide platform to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the new artificial intelligence tools including OpenAI and ChatGPT. 

The event featured guest speaker Dom Divakaruni, Group Product Manager for Azure AI at Microsoft. Divkuruni provided a walkthrough of Microsoft’s use artificial intelligence with its assorted services including Azure OpenAI. He emphasized the responsible use of artificial intelligence and highlighted the importance of diverse voices as stewards for current and future development. 

“The age of powerful and transformative AI technologies has arrived, with major tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Meta leading the way,” said Bruce Wolcott, BC professor and XR Lab Faculty Lead. “It’s important that we begin talking about AI technologies, understanding them, and asking questions about how to best use them. Initiating that conversation is what the AI Symposium was all about.”   

The most recent session was moderated by BC students John Thaler, Clara Lee, and Natalia Sadkiv, who led the discussion and supplied added insight into the topic.  

“It has been such a pleasure to co-organize this event with students and colleagues,” said Ron Austin, XR Lab Administrator. “I’ve enjoyed hearing the variety of viewpoints expressed by everyone. One thing I’ve learned is that it is in people’s nature to personify these machines. My concern is that if we start believing that machines learn the same as humans, then this will create unnecessary ethical, legal, and moral issues for future generations. The Federal Trade Commission has weighed in on this with several online posts which I recommend reading.” 

The XR Lab, located in the BC library, is committed to the application of new virtual reality and simulation technologies as tools for thought, offering students opportunities to augment their learning through immersive, multi-sensory experiences. The lab offers state-of-the-art virtual reality display devices, educational software for interactive learning experiences, and an open-source networked video conference classroom space that allows students to experience presenters from all over the world. 

“Artificial Intelligence is amazing and useful,” explained Austin. “But at the end of the day AI is mostly mathematics, code, and data. Humans are much more than this. Since BC is an institution of higher learning, and we’re working to change people’s lives for the better, I think it’s important for students and faculty to have faith in our ability to succeed with, and without, these new AI technologies. These are topics worth exploring in future AI sessions.”