This post was originally published on this site.
Oct. 16, 2024
Contact: Eric Stann, 573-882-3346, StannE@missouri.edu
Photo by Sam Cox
Artificial intelligence (AI) has crept into nearly every facet of life as we know it. From Roomba vacuums that memorize their cleaning routes to websites that recommend your next purchase based on previous activity, the technology is abundant. For Jared Schroeder, a professor in the University of Missouriâs School of Journalism, AI is the future. But that future, he says, may be complicated.
As a former journalist and scholar of freedom of expression and emerging technologies, Schroeder focuses on how AI will influence the flow of ideas in society. Specifically, his research examines how AI has challenged the way journalism is defined and what it means for the future of democracy.
Schroeder compares the advent of AI to the fictional innovations in the Jurassic Park film franchise that allowed scientists to re-create living dinosaurs without âreally questioning whether they shouldâve done that.â
Where do ideas come from?
The world is filled to the brim with ideas and information. With AI, he says, those ideas could have new gatekeepers.
Because itâs integrated into search engines, AI is increasingly being used by people to get information. But AI doesnât just dispense information; it also collects it from you with every question you ask. Those tools might then hand that information over to future questioners.
âWe need to develop a literacy for processing information from AI,â Schroeder said. âBecause it has been trained, AI only knows what itâs been told and what itâs allowed to tell you â meaning it’s limited. Itâs important to remember AI tools are owned by corporations that have a profit motive. Also, any information that is put into an AI system is no longer private. Never put private information, like student grades or personal communication, into an AI tool.â
As the moving target that it is, AI is not only shaping the information it possesses, itâs creating new information based on what itâs learned.
âIn the next five years, I think a large percentage of what we find on the internet will be AI-generated,â Schroeder said. The economy of information will shift, he said, because AI tools will be so efficient that theyâll be the only resource people will need to gather information.
âBecause of this shift in the information ecosystem, itâs important for people to keep on board a good deal of healthy skepticism,â he said.
AI, students and the future
As a member of Mizzouâs Provost Taskforce for AI, Schroeder believes it is inevitable that AI technology will change the way universities operate. To prepare students for an industry thatâs been infused with AI, Schroeder envisions the development of a new wave of scholarship designed to equip students with the AI skills theyâll need to succeed in their careers.
âPreparing students would involve explaining the ways in which AI tools are trained, to help students understand the ethical and appropriate uses of tools that are yet to be developed,â Schroeder said. âWith guidelines allowing students to use AI on campus, Mizzou is committed to creating an ecosystem that favors students getting as much beneficial experience with these tools as possible before entering the workforce.â
While AI tools can be helpful, Schroeder believes that it is important for educators to impress upon students that thereâs value in knowing how to do things â for example, write a good sentence â without the assistance of AI.
âMessages have meaning when theyâre written by humans,â Schroeder said. âAlthough tools like customer service chatbots have revolutionized the way we do business, thereâs a fine line between using AI as a support tool and letting it take over your work.â
Schroeder engages with AI scientifically, using it as an idea generator and a tool to challenge his own ideas while fostering new ones. He encourages people to use these tools to make their lives easier, but never to do their jobs.
âAI is like a tidal wave; it’s coming whether weâre ready for it or not,â Schroeder said. âWe have to start thinking about what kind of world do we want to live in alongside this technology, and how to keep our fellow humans in the loop.â
Editor’s note:
Looking for experts on AI? Mizzou has the experts you need.
Story written by Courtney Perrett
Three ways to use AI more effectively:
1. AI tools prove helpful during the brainstorming process. For Jared Schroeder, tools such as ChatGPT are great for idea generation. Schroeder finds ChatGPT useful when heâs trying to come up with creative titles for research papers.
2. Bogged down in email? Gemini or CoPilot are helpful tools to kickstart your productivity â and perhaps an inbox-clearing journey. Ask the AI tool for a sketch of an email response and edit it to your liking. Just remember that anything you put into an AI tool is no longer private, so donât share private emails or anything sensitive.
3. If youâre stuck in a creative rut, AI can help problem-solve. Ask the tool questions to jumpstart your creativity and inspire fresh ideas. Maybe AI will lead you to view a problem from a new perspective.