Self-driving cars. Streaming services that recommend music- and movie-rental options based on download histories. Devices that adjust a home’s thermostat by detecting someone’s presence. Complex algorithms that spot irregularities in purchasing patterns to warn credit card holders.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) already affects how we live. Educational concepts like STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are commonplace across higher education. Even K-12 schools are climbing aboard with STEM and STEAM programs and technology competitions. Manatee High School students recently placed third in a global STEM contest in Singapore.
It’s no wonder, then, colleges are deepening their interest in science and technology, says Dr. Karen Holbrook, regional chancellor of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee.
Dr. Karen Holbrook
At a conference Thursday at the USFSM’s Selby Auditorium, Dr. Holbrook referenced how educators are acknowledging not only that students are arriving to college equipped with formidable technology skills, but that from the bottom up, science and technology are altering how we interact with our environment.
“One of the first words that comes to mind when I think about higher education is ‘change,’ the changing landscape of higher education and how our society is changing every day with technology,” she said. “We’re living in a digital world and we need constantly to be retooling and up-skilling people to adapt to this world.”
The conference, “The Business of Artificial Intelligence,” included demonstrations of Microsoft’s HoloLens and Power BI Desktop business analytics software. Representatives from Microsoft were on hand to demonstrate the products.
Dr. Holbrook kicked off the discussion, organized by Dr. Denise Davis-Cotton, director of The Florida Center for Partnerships for Arts-Integrated Teaching, and State College of Florida Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. Ryan Hale. It was sponsored by the Andrew Mellon Foundation and New College of Florida.
Dr. Holbrook reminded attendees that even as technology becomes more entrenched in society, that employers will seek out graduates skilled not just in science, mathematics and computers, but also in essential soft-skills, or people skills, to work in creative, collaborative environments.
“It’s not just a dismal picture with robots replacing people, because the people will be needed to operate the robots,” she said. “Instead it’s a good picture, but it’s a picture that’s about change.”
Dr. Ehsan Sheybani, associate professor of information systems, and instructional media technologist Sarah Gentry talked about some of those changes, specifically as they relate to AI.
Among them:
- A flying camera called the Air Selfie, which re-focuses the farther if moves from the subject;
- A painting program, Tilt Brush, that enables artists to construct 3D illustrations viewable in virtual reality;
- Cyber security programs that detect computer hack attempts;
- Technologies at banks that detect fraud by analyzing customer
- Self-driving cars and safety systems at Tesla and other automakers;
- A music download service called JukeDeck that writes music for accompanying videos.
That’s just the start, Dr. Sheybani says.
Eventually, he said, cities will be wired and interconnected to enable a host of other abilities. Transportation systems, as well as the delivery of goods and services, will become more automated and most labor-intensive jobs, particularly dangerous ones, will be performed by robots, he said.
Even medicine will change. Medical devices will detect not just when a patient is walking, for example, but how they’re walking and whether they’re shuffling their feet as an individual with Parkinson’s disease.
The conference was one of several talks focused on technology sponsored by the PAInT Center. The last one, the Business of Robotics, was held Jan. 17. Look for more seminars at USFSM in the future. Visit our website at usfsm.edu.