AI in Academia: Navigating the Future

Ian Cross, Senior Lecturer in Marketing @ Bentley University, discusses one of Bentley's first AI courses, the impact of AI in advertising and marketing, AI's relation to the printing press, how AI helps companies evaluate and assess their brand, and why AI might be the next big wave of economic opportunity.

Melissa Hey, lecturer in Natural and Applied Sciences at Bentley University, discusses her experiences teaching environmental science and sustainability in a post-ChatGPT world. Melissa shares how she AI-proofed her assignments, how much is too much AI to bring into the classroom, what worked well, what didn't, and the importance of collecting student feedback and data.

Lindsey Kosinski, Associate Director of Business Intelligence at Bentley University and a student of Bentley’s Masters in Analytics program, discusses her journey of upskilling before and after the release of ChatGPT, how students can leverage tools like it to learn more effectively in a dynamic environment, the skills that remain crucial as generative AI proliferates, and the evolution of business intelligence from the early days of big data to today.

Janelle Estes and Sarah Pagliaccio, lecturers in Experience Design at Bentley University, join us to discuss the role of AI in user research and design. Topics include strategies and approaches for teaching with AI in the classroom, how gen AI can be considered as a junior intern for UX professionals, how it can help make room for higher order learning and thinking, how we can probe to reduce hallucinations, and the role of AI in designing with empathy.

Jennifer Xu, professor of Computer Information Systems at Bentley University, discusses how to teach AI to business students, the intellectual  value of learning coding, the data needs of AI versus human brains, and why curiosity and empathy are paramount as we prepare for jobs of the future.