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PennWest launching center for artificial intelligence

By Paul Paterra 4 min read
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Dr. James Fisher, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs for Pennsylvania Western University
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With an eye on preparing its students for the future, Pennsylvania Western University is launching the PennWest Center for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies.

The center is set to open next spring and will serve as a hub to prepare students, employees and community partners for the adoption and innovative use of artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies.

“We realized that when it comes to artificial intelligence or related technologies, if you’re not ahead, you’re behind,” said Dr. James Fisher, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. “AI is fundamentally changing the way we think about work, but also what it would mean to be a prepared graduate in the 21st century. This is not a degree program; it is something that is relevant to any student in any major. No matter what you do we have a strong sense that AI is going to be impacting your life and your work.”

A physical office will be located on the PennWest Edinboro campus, but opportunities for dialogue and collaboration will exist at all three PennWest campuses, which include Edinboro, California and Clarion, and Global Online.

“Just like PennWest is a regional resource, we’re going to make sure the center is a regional resource,” Fisher said.

The center will serve faculty by helping them to navigate the transformative impact of AI and emerging technologies on education by providing tools, knowledge and training to integrate AI into their teaching. This, in turn, is intended to help make students proficient, adaptable and career-ready users of AI. Additionally, the center will spur dialogue and thought leadership to address the economic, ethical, cultural, educational, political and legal challenges AI poses.

“We recognized that it was time for us to make sure that we are folding this into all of the different things that we do at the university to help the students, but also to serve Western Pennsylvania,” Fisher said. “We can fill a need for communities in Western Pennsylvania to help them react to the transformations in technology.”

Collaboration with community partners, such as schools, nonprofits, government and industry, will help meet the challenges and opportunities of an AI-driven future.

Dr. Camille Dempsey, associate professor of education at the Edinboro campus, will serve as the center’s inaugural director.

Dempsey, a nationally known expert and consultant in AI and education technology, is a Faculty Research Fellow in Artificial Intelligence through the International Society of Technology in Education and an EDSAFE AI Alliance Catalyst Fellow. She also serves as a Google Women Ambassador, a Google AI Mastermind for Women, and a Google Educator Group leader.

“Our culture is shifting,” Dempsey said. “Technology is rapidly advancing a lot of things. In challenges and opportunities. It’s important people have skills and have some sense of where to go with them for their jobs.

“AI by far is the most powerful shift in technology that we’ve ever had. We have to prepare students. We have to give our students skills. We have to help them be able to navigate some of the critical questions they’re going to encounter with AI. Employers are increasingly expecting students to have these skills. That’s why it’s so important we have businesses and other partners involved so we ensure we meet the needs of all types of businesses and organizations.”

Such centers have cropped up at some of the more nationally known universities such as Yale, but it seems to be a newer program at a regional public university like PennWest.

“There are centers that have AI labs where they’re building robots,” Dempsey said. “Our scope is much larger. We’re supporting faculty and staff. I haven’t seen anyone developing a center quite like ours. It’s kind of exciting. It’s a unique situation.”

Dempsey said one area school district has already expressed interest in partnering with PennWest in the center.

“That’s really needed as well, getting our schools grounded in what’s ethical, ethical AI and how to use it responsibly,” Dempsey said.

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