By ALICIA FEYERHERM
Tiger Media Network
Feature image was generated using Microsoft CoPilot
Online Student Government Association (OSGA) in collaboration with FHSU Online, hosted its third Tiger Talk on Thursday.
“We have started these virtual programs this year in an effort to better connect our online population, online distance learners, with Fort Hays State University,” OSGA Public Relations Officer Eileen Moore said.
This talk was focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Instructional Technologist and Chair of FHSU’s Generative AI Task Force Magdalene Moy as the featured speaker.
Over the last two years, Moy has helped develop resources for students and faculty through the Fort Hays Website https://www.fhsu.edu/ai/.
The website includes an Academic Integrity Guidance draft as well as a Teaching Guidance and Scholarly and Creative Activities Guidance drafts.
Moy emphasized that these are guidelines, not policies, as policies have to go through several rounds of approval and are not easily changed.
“AI is changing so rapidly,” Moy said. “We can’t adjust to how those changes are happening and make it useful, so we think guidelines is an appropriate place to find ourselves with AI specifically.”
Some of the AI resources Moy reviewed included:
Microsoft CoPilot – Students have access to CoPilot using their FHSU email.
“It will not save your data, so it’s a safe place to start playing with it,” Moy said.
In addition to content creation, idea generation and summary capabilities, Microsoft CoPilot can also generate images.
Moy said the image generation is not perfect, but it is better than if you used a free CoPilot account.
Packback Writing Lab – Students can access Packback Writing Lab through the “Assist” tab on Blackboard.
This tool provides feedback on your writing. Students can also chat with an AI bot to work through issues they may be having.
“It’s not going to be like ChatGPT where it is generating content for you, but it will look at what you wrote and start giving some suggestions,” Moy said.
NotebookLM.google – Is a free website that can transform uploaded resources into an AI-generated podcast.
“Maybe you don’t particularly care for reading, or you feel that you do better if you read and listen to something, this is a free tool available for you,” Moy said.
Some faculty members have used this to add more multimedia content to their courses.
LibGuide on AI – https://fhsuguides.fhsu.edu/ai
FHSU Forsyth Library has a research guide on Artificial Intelligence with an overview of AI.
In addition to academic purposes, there are other ways to experiment with AI, including meal prepping, fitness plants. Moy uses it for movie recommendations.
“I think it’s a fun way to just engage with it that’s totally outside of academics,” Moy said.
Moy said she works with faculty to educate them on the resources available. Many faculty members have expressed concerns about AI.
“I can’t even tell you how many faculty have been like, ‘It is the devil and you’re destroying higher ed,” Moy said. “My goal is not to convert you (faculty), that’s not what I’m trying to do, but if you don’t even know what these tools can do, then how can you be so against it?”
Like it or not, Moy said AI is here to stay.
Departments have been working to create AI certificate programs related to specific fields of study. More information can be found at: https://www.fhsu.edu/ai/ai-certificates-and-microcredentials
There will also be an AI Institute and Fair from 2-7 p.m. on February 25 in the Memorial Union.
The next Tiger Talk will feature Career Services and the Alumni Foundation. An exact date will be released later.
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