The discussion will take place from 10 to 11:15 a.m. in Room 226 in Herrington Hall. There is no fee to attend, and the discussion will also broadcast live on RSUTV2.
Curtis Sparling, head of RSU's Technology and Justice Studies Department, will moderate the discussion. Joining Sparling are five RSU professors, Vice President of Student Affairs Jerrett D. Phillips and Lisa Palmer, an AI strategist and founder of consulting firm Dr. Lisa AI.
Palmer is also an alumna of RSU.
Palmer said that at the discussion, she will talk about practical ways organizations are using AI. She said she'll also discuss which kinds of careers may become obsolete and which ones will flourish as AI's capabilities grow.
"I want to make sure that we are educating students, that we're educating business owners about the possibilities ... so that we are empowering people instead of people feeling afraid of this technology," Palmer said.
Sparling said AI is making waves in the education field. RSU offers 20 courses that teach students to use machine learning tools.
He said the discussion will be a chance to talk about how AI is a boon to education; for example, he said an RSU student used AI to figure out a coding problem and was able to ask the AI tool why it fixed the problem the way it did.
He said it'll also be an opportunity to talk about ethical concerns with AI, such as how it uses private data to learn.
Sparling and Palmer both said one of the main objectives of the panel discussion is to dispel fears people may have about AI.
"There's not going to be a positive or negative spin on what artificial intelligence is, what it isn't and what it can be," Sparling said. "It is simply going to be a discussion that hopefully demystifies AI."
Palmer said AI is making as big a splash like the internet did when it first became widely available.
She said some form of artificial intelligence has existed for 70 years, but the technology is now having its day in the sun, as it has become accessible to the average person.
AI is fundamentally changing the world, Palmer said, and knowing how to harness it will help people get ahead. She said she hopes people who attend the panel will leave feeling empowered.
"I want organizations and individuals to be positioned to come out on the other side of that in a really positive place," Palmer said. "... We need people to understand the power of the capabilities and make sure that they don't get left behind because they are not aware or they're afraid."
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