Digital dominoes. Hello and welcome to Digital Dominoes. I'm Angeline Corvaglia and in this show we're diving into today's technology to pave the way for a brighter future. My guests and I are exploring how each piece of knowledge, much like a domino, interconnects and influences our digital worlds. The insights and advice we share will not only help you stay secure online, but also help you flourish.

Today we're going to talk about educating college students about generative AI. What are they most interested in learning and what are they concerned about? Just to be sure we're all on the same page, generative AI is artificial intelligence capable of generating text, images, videos, or other data. And as you can imagine, it can be massive support for students doing their homework.

I'm honored to have Ilkem Kayican Dipcin, an instructor specializing in English for academic purposes, academic [00:01:00] writing, and academic skills at Sabanci University in Istanbul. Thank you for being here. How are you doing today? I'm good. I'm very happy to be here, Angeline. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I'm really excited about this survey that we're going to talk about.

So earlier this year, I worked with Ilkem on a short but very interesting survey of her first year university students’ opinions on generative AI and what they want to learn about it. Can you tell us a little bit about those students, like what kind of students they are, what they're studying, just to give some background?

Of course. These students are Freshman students their first year in university and you know, they just graduated from high school after they took the central university exam. They come to the university and in our course, which is content-based academic English course, where we actually try to teach and develop their academic writing [00:02:00] skills and research skills. Where, of course, some technology has got into that.

So they, I mean, when it comes to their major, because of the nature of the university that I'm working in, most of them have the intention to study computer engineering or management, finance, and different engineering departments, generally, because we are a research university. That's why generally the, the cohort probably, uh, will have engineering major. Yeah. That's actually really important to keep in mind as we discovered when we were looking at the results of the survey, we're like, Oh, wow, these people are really interested in understanding the algorithm, which we'll talk about later. And, and you explained, Oh, a lot of them are technical.

Yeah. That's, that's really interesting. So moving onto the survey and I'm really looking forward to diving in just to give a little bit of background. It was a very [00:03:00] simple survey. We asked the students how often they use generative AI and what they use it for, really high level areas. We ask them what areas where they feel they need to have more education about, which aspects about AI's impact on society and their personal life interests that interests them most. And we had some discussion, obviously, before this recording. And I'd like to start just with asking you, what was your biggest surprise reading the results, or aha moment? Yeah, my aha moment was about the awareness that they have that the future of jobs will require different artificial intelligence skills, and they are aware of it.

And I think in the survey, please correct me if I'm wrong, they, they are curious about what they would like to be educated about is like, that is some kind of a concern and awareness at the same time. Because if they're [00:04:00] concerned, what kind of job market is ahead of them, that they will require some artificial intelligence skills.

And that means they might start using it so that they can develop these skills. But maybe this generation or this cohort of university students, they are just in the middle of this transition and they are both excited and concerned and it's very understandable. But another aha moment for me like when we were trying to integrate AI in classroom to some assessments, we asked them to create a thesis statement by using AI and evaluate the success of this thesis statement based on the criteria that we used that we use in the classroom. And some of them just start asking, why do we need artificial intelligence in that case? I mean, so it's like, in what [00:05:00] ways they will get this advantage from. So it is very important to ask. Okay, that's something that we will have in the future, but evaluating the needs and having this needs analysis mindset in their, in, in their mind is I think amazing.

Yes, we use it, but actually that wasn't necessary. You know, I think that was also another aha moment for me. And I think that was reflected in the comment section of the survey by someone. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I'll read that comment just in a second. I think the one that you're referring to. Seeing that other educators who are really getting AI into their classroom.

I've seen that comment other times that then. It's also something I've discovered from different perspectives, is that this is the digital generation and adults need to understand if we do not ask them, hen we're not going to get it right. It, that was my aha moment too. I'm obsessed with, [00:06:00] with the impact, as I said, on on your person, on your voice, how this AI that will impact that.

And I'm very concerned about impacts on society. And when you ask them, obviously, that shouldn't have surprised me. As you said, they're most concerned about jobs because, well, yeah, that's where they are in life, right? They need to understand how am I going to finance my life for the next 50, 60 years.

Totally. And yeah, it's really interesting. We have to really remember that as adults. Oh, yeah. I mean, by the way, maybe it is important to say that there were 76 participants to the survey and like more than 50 percent said that they are using, I mean, when we conducted the survey, they were using, um, artificial intelligence or maybe ChatGPT, mostly, uh, databases.

And we need to point out that, you know, you were surprised I remember about the really large, uh, portion of the students, they, they wanted to understand [00:07:00] how algorithms work. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I was surprised about that. And that's not the first time I've been surprised about that. I probably should learn, but a lot of people think because we don't know what with I say we, anyone above a certain age who can all imagine you feel you’re in… And people who, who, uh, that, that they don't even know about algorithms, but they know that algorithms are there.

Yes. And, and I'm talking about youth in general. Mm-Hmm. that they know that Algorithms are there. And I believe that once they get on the social media, wherever they get this information from also from peers, from also the videos they see online. But they, we think we need to tell them this, but they know it's there.

What they don't know is how it works. Or, or I saw some survey, a study that was done in the Netherlands, where it was like 250 students or something, asked them what they know about algorithms. And they clearly knew they were there. They had clear ideas about the, you know, the likes and the shares and the comments that [00:08:00] impacted their feed.

But there were really important things about where the algorithm got the information that they didn't know. That's really, yeah, that's very important because according to World Economic Forum report in 2023, the most important skills that you need to develop, it's like, uh, the, the projection of 2027. Um, one of the thing is like big data and algorithms.

You need to develop that skill, how those algorithms work and what is your relationship with data, the data, the big data. And I think that's fair from the survey that you shared. It makes sense. Yeah, I think it is. I think it's absolutely fair. And, and I think that, that also the results of our survey, just to give some numbers that we asked the question, what the people, what they wanted to get more education and support in, and they could answer more than one.

So whichever one they, they can answer all [00:09:00] four, there were four options. 78 percent said they wanted support developing skills on how to use AI tools effectively. 55 percent wanted help understanding how AI algorithms work. And there were much fewer that were interested in learning about risks and benefits of AI in society.

It was 29 percent and learning responsible usage and ethics, it was 20%. And that goes back to what you, you said. And I think that the youth just know that and we are always. We, we I'm talking about adults. Yeah. A lot of really under-estimate how much they already know. They, they know, as you say, that algorithms are everywhere.

They're putting their data everywhere. And whether a man was someone that's technical or not, that their ability to control their destiny, so to speak, or their opinions actually will More and more, the more AI is out there, depend on their awareness of how it [00:10:00] works. Because you can only kind of control, control it in a sense, influence how it influences you if you know how it works, right?

Totally. I agree with that. Also, Angeline, I have another, you know, critical thinking, I will be doing this critical thinking. I wonder, maybe that's culturally different in different countries, different students might, you know, prioritize different things. Yeah. But I wonder if this is about prioritization, like you say, I mean, maybe if they really prioritize learning about algorithms, big data, and how they will use these AI tools and how they work. I mean, what is the architecture behind this artificial intelligence? If they know it, probably they would understand the ethical concerns, risks, and the vital impacts of it. Although they think that they don't need it at the moment. I think I [00:11:00] will not, for example, change my approach that I will keep reminding them the risks and ethical concerns about AI in the classroom because they might not be aware of it yet.

I mean, that's my, I think so too. Yeah, I, I had the same thought because as a former CFO, I'm very much risk. I look at the world from a risk. It's yeah... Sometimes I try to stop it, but it's just bigger than me. I just see the risks everywhere. I can't not just talk about this risk and responsible uses and ethics.

And I read that and I was like, wow, should I change my approach? And then I figured, no, I just need to dress it up differently. Totally. Because I also think they'll figure it out over the, these last months. I've been trying to figure out what can we do to get more like youth interested in not being controlled by like social media, for example?

And I figured, well, [00:12:00] youth want to be independent. That's one of their main drivers. I mean, that's a part of growing up. And if you help them understand they are actually losing their independence, maybe they're independent from their parents, but they're dependent on what the algorithm is feeding them, then I honestly believe that as you just said, then they'll understand, Oh, wait, this is bigger than me.

Yeah. Yeah. If they don't know that. Yeah. Then how will they figure it out for themselves? And I know that if you link it in their minds, your independence, it's not about someone making limits for you, like having a phone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Independently thinking person. Um, totally. It's, it's same with data privacy.

They need to know that when they share anything, I mean, for example, in one of the comments, students were saying that they just put the slides of the lectures and maybe some reading passages and, um, um, very quickly because the student says that it really [00:13:00] makes me efficient. Because, uh, it just summarizes all the lecture slides and the, the, the reading texts that I need to do for my class, for my course.

I'm not sure if they know that it's, uh, it's an open source training data, where, what to put, what is data, what is about… and I appreciate all your work in data privacy and raising awareness of the young people. So I think they, they also still need to understand this. I think so. I actually, I was speaking to, obviously the other side of the generation. I was speaking to a retired engineer, and this man spent his whole.

He was a very successful, uh, engineer and he was at a plane engine manufacturer and he was implementing throughout the world software. So he's really, really experienced. And we were talking about AI and I started saying something about AI and privacy. Because he knew I was focusing on AI, and I was just talking about [00:14:00] privacy, and he said, stop.

H said, what does that have to do with AI? Why are you talking about privacy now? I mean, that's a path that we need to connect, and as you said before, your student's age, they're very unfortunate because, sorry. And that's one thing I I've been working on is some other episodes feature my, my digital defenders, young digital defenders who are just starting out in the digital world.

And I'm trying to open up basic information about algorithms that they exist. And I think we can start with the younger generation, and they'll be in a completely different position. Ones who are becoming adults now are in a very unfortunate situation because they grew up in a certain way, and all of a sudden, this new factor came in.

It's going to be really hard for them to, to understand, I think, this privacy perspective, because it is different with AI. [00:15:00] Oh, yeah. Yes, I, I totally agree. That's something different in front of us, just compared to writing something on Google or entering some, uh, data on a website. This is a different situation.

And that's it for the first part of our three part series discussing these survey results. Today, we learn that Ilkem’s students are very interested in acquiring AI skills to boost their future career prospects. However, there's a noticeable gap in their understanding of the ethical and societal implications of AI, particularly regarding privacy issues with generative AI.

I believe it's up to all of us to help bridge this gap. Not just parents, not just teachers, not just educational institutions or tech companies. We all need to work together to support our students’ career ambitions while providing the necessary guidance in terms of responsibility and ethical use. I really hope you [00:16:00] enjoyed hearing about our findings from Ilkem’s students.

Be sure to join us for the next two parts of this series to learn about the survey results. Next time, we'll dive into which aspects of AI's impact on society and their personal lives intrigue students the most. Let us know what you think, check out more, and subscribe at digi-dominoes.com.

Thank you for listening, and thank you Ilkem for joining me. I'd also like to thank our sponsor Data Girl and Friends. Their mission is to build awareness and foster critical thinking about AI, online safety, privacy, and digital citizenship through fun, engaging, and informative content. Check them out at data-girl-and-friends.com.

Until next time, stay curious and keep learning. Digital Dominoes.