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Experts say AI advisory boards could help universities looking to navigate the technology.

Photo illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Higher Ed | Getty Images

When it comes to artificial intelligence and higher ed, the excitement and hype are matched by the uncertainties and need for guidance. One solution: creating an AI advisory board that brings together students, faculty and staff for open conversations about the new technology.

That was a key idea presented at the University of Central Floridas inaugural Teaching and Learning With AI conference, a two-day event that drew more than 500educators from around the country.

AI has had a breakout year, said Ray Schroeder, a senior fellow of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (and a contributor to Inside Higher Ed). Schroeder, who has recently focused on the intersection of AI and higher education, opened the conference seeking to help faculty, administrators and staff attempt to navigate the choppy waters of AI.

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We cannot afford to ignore it, he said. The intent is to make clear, What is the intention of the university? How are they going to move with this technology?

Schroeder and other experts interviewed said universities need a formal mechanism for getting advice on how to proceed.

Artificial intelligence is a technology that impacts nearly every aspect of higher education institutionsrecruiting, admissions, financial aid, student support services, teaching and learning, assessment, operation, and more, said Kristina Ishmael, deputy director of the Education Departments Office of Educational Technology.

Ishmael said in an email to Inside Higher Ed that the departments top recommendation about AI is to emphasize humans in the loop. Institutions that choose to create an AI advisory board, or a similar group, would be implementing this recommendation.

Many universities are already pursuing that advice. The University of Louisville had its first AI advisory board meeting last week. Stanford University and Vanderbilt University formed boards earlier this year after investing millions in AI research on campus.

Northeastern University created an external AI board, co-chaired by two faculty members and joined by industry heavyweights including Honeywell and the Mayo Clinic.

The University of Michigan unveiled its 18-member advisory board in May, a group tasked with creating a report centered on best practices for generative AI.

The Michigan board was the brainchild of Ravi Pendse, the universitys vice president for information technology, who chatted with fellow faculty members about AI at the start of the year.

I said, We need to get a faculty group together to provide general guidance to the campus, said Pendse, who also serves as the universitys chief information officer. We need to make sure we consider this technology, frankly, with our eyes wide-open and feet on the ground, so we embrace it, but do so thoughtfully.

There is no perfect blueprint to building an AI advisory board, and the approach will vary for each college or university. However, the experts interviewed noted important factors to make it work.

An AI advisory board may not work for each institution, and there are other approaches. Schroeder suggested a workshop for faculty could suffice. Pendse pointed toward having a lunch-and-learn series and said that the key, whatever the format, is to encourage discussion.

These discussions are already happening, Pendse said. We want to know what this thing is, to use it, to leverage it, to debate it. And the way you do that is providing safe spaces where this debate can happen and engage with each other.

For the institutions forming boards, however, it can be dual purpose, according to experts. Theres the value it delivers to students, which, Schroeder said, can help prepare them for the changing workforce.

For students, I think its a matter of tapping their expectations, he said. And I think their expectations are driven in part, perhaps in large part, by the expectations of employers.

Those students, once prepared, can boost discussion and ultimately help with AI research in the future, creating a flywheel effect.

We cant just sit idly in this country; other countries are investing, so we need to be flying, not running or walking, Pendse said. And the only way we can is with institutions contributing to the AI talentthat will create policy makers, people who can debate the pros and cons. Thats how we can compete in the world.

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Higher ed AI anxiety? An advisory board could help - Inside Higher Ed