Dirk Colbry embraces AI to prepare students for the future
Dirk Colbry is a senior specialist in the Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering Department, a shared department of the College of Natural Science and the College of Engineering. He believes faculty can’t afford to keep teaching as if generative AI doesn’t exist.
“My argument has always been that it isn’t going away,” Colbry said. “You can’t put the genie back in the bottle. We have to adapt or die. It’s just a matter of time before AI is even more advanced. It’s coming very quickly.”
Generative AI is the latest of many tools that have changed how classes are taught. Once upon a time, educators worried that calculators would become a crutch, and students wouldn’t learn math fundamentals. The dawn of the internet, then Google and Wikipedia, also brought hand-wringing that technology would spell the end of education.
In a way, the worriers were right, Colbry said. Students could use calculators and Google to easily find answers instead of memorizing facts. ChatGPT is likely to be more of the same.
But the answer isn’t to get rid of technology, Colbry said.
“Instead of saying ‘No, you can’t use that,’ we need to change our teaching model, and possibly our metrics,” Colbry said.
To learn more about Prof. Colbry's approach regarding generative AI, visit the College of Engineering's original article.
For more regarding how other faculty members use AI tools to enhance learning in students, visit the College of Natural Science's article.
