WSSU holds inaugural AI Summit - spectrumlocalnews.com

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem State University is working to help people better understand the capabilities of artificial intelligence by separating fact from fiction. The university held its inaugural AI Summit on Thursday.

“Many times people need to be in this space to really grasp what's going on with these technologies,” said Jack Monell, interim director for the university's Center for Innovative and Transformative Instruction.

Questions are growing as AI continues to evolve. That’s why Monell helped create a platform to help provide answers.

“I often joke that it's not necessarily the bogeyman, so to speak,” Monel saidl. “It's a tool that we all use constructively.”

Monell says AI can be used as a tool to help with efficiency in any work environment.

“It synthesizes information at a pace that 20 or 30 people couldn't do,” Monell said. “It's quite effective and helpful. Particularly in any work environment where you might have a one-man show or a two-person team or things of that nature.”

Mikayla Drake was among the students interested in studying more about the field. Drake is a junior, student-athlete and sports management major at WSSU. She says she uses AI almost every day.

“It definitely helps with getting my creative juices together,” Drake said. “I can brainstorm on my own, but I really use AI to help me go deeper into that thinking and understanding.”

Drake and other attendees learned about how AI is being used in various fields, including communications, computer science and robotics through presentations and panels. She says there’s a lot of beneficial ways to use AI as a student, rather than using it maliciously.

“If you're using it to just cheat on your testing, you're not going to show those skills that you should be learning in the future, so you're only hurting yourself,” Drake said.

Some are concerned about the rapid transformation of the technology and what the future holds. Monell says that’s why seminars like this are important.

“I firmly believe the benefits sometimes outweigh some of the negatives that we see,” Monell said. “The reality of it is technology can cause a little bit of pause for some people if they're not as fluent with it.”

Monell hopes students learn the benefits of AI, while engaging with industry partners and showcasing their research.

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