Champlain Experts Talk AI in the Workplace

The Champlain College Office of Alumni Relations launched its new Lunch & Learn webinar series with a topic that is increasingly sweeping the media: Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Workplace.

Our guest speakers included:

• Dr. Elaine Young, long-time member of the Champlain community, currently serving as Program Director and Professor at Champlain College Online

• Melinda Lathrop ’17, Champlain alumna and Director of Strategic Partnerships at Southern Made and Adjunct Instructor at Champlain College Online

The dynamic duo presented their experiences and knowledge of AI, looking at specific use cases and the broader concept of AI in work and education. The session brought perspective to how AI is reshaping industries and how we do our jobs. One comment from an attendee encapsulated a mindset that was at the core of the conversation:

The speakers expressed that at this point, the train has left the station. People are either hopping on board or are left in a static state while the rest of the world evolves. Dr. Young brought this into the context of education stating, “Our job is not to ‘defend against’ AI but rather, arm our students with the knowledge, skills, and ethical grounding needed to navigate today’s Generative AI advances and prepare for what is to come.”

With Generative AI, an important piece to understand is how much the input from the user informs the output from the Generative AI tool. Machine learning is quite literally learning the user. Thinking about this from an ethical perspective, Lathrop shared, “as consumers and as people in general, we need to be conscious of our own biases and make sure that we’re actually coming from an ethical perspective. Putting in the correct prompt and making sure that we’re not being biased ourselves, because we’re essentially training this AI.”

In addition to influencing the output from AI tools, how you respond to its growing presence in the workplace may impact your career. “If you are the person who is leading with AI literacy, if you are learning and bringing this into your workplace, you’re going to stand out with that value of knowing how to utilize these tools,” says Dr. Young. “In this time period of uncertainty, that is going to have a huge impact on your job success.”

Dr. Young’s recommendation? “Practice and try and learn, and then start to set your own boundaries on what you feel is great about this. And what are the things that cause you to be concerned?”

As with the emergence of any new technology, there is a period of disruption and transformation. The overarching message of the webinar spoke to navigating this period in personal and professional settings and what that means for the future.

Are you hopping on board?