Digital Dominoes. Welcome back to our three-part series on college students and generative AI. I'm Angeline Corvaglia, and this is the second episode of the series. I'm joined by Ilkem Kayican Dipcin, an instructor at Sabanci University in Istanbul, who proactively teaches her students how to use generative AI responsibly.

Together, Ilkem and I did a series short survey of her first year university students opinions on generative AI and what they want to learn about it. Last time we talked about key findings, such as students awareness of the need for AI skills in future jobs and their curiosity about understanding AI algorithms.

We highlighted students’ mixed feelings about integrating AI in education, with some questioning its necessity. Finally, we discussed the importance of educating youth about AI, data privacy and [00:01:00] the associated risks to help them maintain their independence and understand the broader implications of AI in their lives.

This time, we'll be talking about the second major question included in the survey, which was the aspects of AI's impact on society in their personal lives that interested the 76 students who took the survey most. Welcome back. Let's dive right into my talk with Ilkem.

The other major question that we asked the students is which aspect of AI's impact on society and your personal life interest you the most?

And we had the following results. For 37%, AI's role in changing job markets and careers was the most interesting, followed by 31% for the shift towards automation and efficiency, 16% for AI's influence on personal decision making, and 13% for the ethical considerations of AI in daily life, and finally 3% said they were not interested.

So this [00:02:00] actually really fits very well what we said before, that I personally was kind of fully focused on the smallest two, and obviously youth are, are in a different place. They want to understand the job markets, careers, shift towards automation. And I can just say for myself, the reason I haven't been talking about that.

It's because I see it as an uncertain future. And I was focused on what is certain, which is the influence and the ethical considerations, but I see now that for youth of today, it is certain. The impact is certain and they want to understand better. They want to have better guidance, right? Oh, totally.

Totally. I think that's numbered in the survey. Uh, that really makes sense to me. Because I have been sharing recently on LinkedIn as well. I am working with companies at the same time, and I'm trying to, you know, give some advice as an AI [00:03:00] strategist, how they can integrate AI into their process or working processes, working flow, and I can see the aims and the objectives that we try to develop and integrate in higher education.

They are very similar to what the businesses try to do. I mean, so they are maybe at its closest moment now. Because we try to develop the skills that our students will need to do their job better in the future and now in existing business and companies, they are trying to upskill and reskill their own workforce.

So we are not very far from what we are trying to do. And I definitely understand the students also. Maybe in order to be competent in two years’ time, in three years’ time, they'll be in the job market. And of course, they are worried at the same time, what kind of skills they will [00:04:00] need more than the other.

So, ffor that reason, I also shared with you, Angeline, you might remember Cal Newport from Georgetown University, computer scientist, and he is an expert. He's saying that maybe in higher education, things might get a little bit slower. Do not rush in teaching different artificial intelligence skills to your students because first of all, just stop and observe what kind of tools are effective and operational in the job market.

What kind of different artificial intelligence tools and models business will choose to use so that you can observe it, and find the skills that integrate them into your courses. So I think that was also an aha moment for me when I was listening to the podcast that Cal Newport shared his opinions.

Um, so I think it's important that [00:05:00] students really understand that they will need it. Uh, but when it comes to, of course, ethical concerns, this is about survival instinct. They will be graduates soon, and they will be in the job market. So they prioritize these compared to ethical perspective, I guess.

Exactly. I mean, I think basically anyone is going to be in the same, in the same situation. I was surprised until you told me about this being a technical university, I was surprised that 31% were concerned about the shift towards automated efficiency. But then this makes sense that I think it's a similar thing as the first one about job markets and careers from often from a technical perspective that there's a different point of view.

And, and I'm going to put a link to that podcast in the show notes, whoever wants to see it. Thank you for sharing. It was really interesting. My pleasure. And as I was listening to it from my head, [00:06:00] focus on the now, focus on the now, it was just more confirmation about what you said that you do, how you build it into your classroom.

Because I think what we think about what AI is going to do is for the jobs of the future is very much fashioned by who's been loudest. Microsoft has obviously been one of the loudest. You know, they put, they put ChatGBT into their suite much faster than I personally thought was a good idea. And so we're kind of expecting we're at this moment in time, probably whoever listens to this in a year will be like, wow, that this is what the future would be like automation of thiis office work.

What I have read is that people aren't actually adopting it for the privacy issues that you said that you mentioned. Because kind of a black box on the other side and companies, you know, [00:07:00] there's also a lot of, um, prompt injection attacks that, which is basically for those who don't know, like you put, you type in some sentences to the tool and it gives back information it's not supposed to give you.

So it just makes you act differently than, than you expect. So they're really, so companies are figuring this out. And they're banning it for a lot of stuff. So, so the suites that were like, Oh, this is what's going to like revolutionize office work. It actually isn't doing it. And, and this was one of the points of the podcast was, well, that's normal.

Yeah. Let's slow down. Yeah. So I really like what your approach, you know, what you described earlier is like perfect because this, whatever happens next in technology, they're going to have learn to use their voice, think critically, of course. I mean, you know, I mentioned earlier as well in the previous, you know, episode that it is very important [00:08:00] to have some skills that World Economic Forum shared that will be weathered in the job market.

One of them is definitely critical thinking. And I, as an AI enthusiast and AI strategist, all the time, keep my critical perspective about this. Because I also have this concern about being too much hyped about it. And yeah, also being too resistant. So I think that's the spectrum, which is very normal and natural.

And I respect all different opinions about the approach towards AI, because that is a big thing. I mean, that's, you know, a paradigm shift and even Reid Hoffman, who is the co-founder of, you know, LinkedIn, he is saying that it's kind of cognitive industrial revolution. Is, you know, coming. I mean, yeah, there are big words, uh, are said, but I always try to be critical and a little bit patient and I try to observe.[00:09:00]

So that's why I definitely agree with the thing that although I try to promote using it responsibly and ethically and integrated in their daily life to my students, I always, um, keep them saying, just keep saying them that. This is something they need to be in control. Yeah, exactly. And all the time individualized this process.

Yeah. And I think, I mean, just for anyone who's, who's listening, who's not, I mean, who was thinking about how can I help my, my, my kids, my, the youth in my life, I think one of the, the best things we can do is remind them what hype means because they're at an age where they haven't understood all of this has happened multiple times.

Um, they probably feel it for, obviously are very concerned about the future and the media does not help. And I think one of the best things that we adults, um, [00:10:00] can do is remind them of different examples in history where things were hyped, and they didn't come as necessary. And I think this is something that, that, that we need to help, like, especially with AI is, you know, calm down a little bit.

And that's a wrap for today's episode. It's clear that students are eager to build their AI skills and understand the importance of staying ahead in our rapidly evolving tech world. But while we can and should support them in this journey, it's also crucial to help them keep a balanced perspective. We need to remind them, and by we I mean adults who've been through this before, we need to remind today's young people that while AI will likely be a game changer in many ways, not everything they hear about it is set in stone. There's a lot of hype and the future is still very uncertain.

That's why intellectual flexibility is one of the most valuable [00:11:00] skills we can teach them. Encouraging them to critically evaluate the information they receive and stay open minded will benefit them not just in their careers but in all aspects of life. This balanced approach will help them succeed and become thoughtful, informed individuals who can positively contribute to how AI is integrated into society.

We really need more of those people. So please join us next time for the third and final part of our series, where we'll look at specific comments about AI that Ilkem’s students shared in the survey. Please let us know what you think about what we're talking about in this episode and the others. Check out more about us and subscribe at digi-dominoes.com.

Thank you so much for listening and thank you again Ilkem for your time and energy in helping increase awareness of these topics. I'd also like to thank our sponsor, Data Girl and Friends. Their mission is to build awareness and foster critical thinking about [00:12:00] 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.