WKU hosts AI in Real Life panel at Corvette Museum’s Chevrolet Theater
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Artificial intelligence is becoming more commonplace in today’s society, and on Thursday, three Western Kentucky University professors held a panel discussion about how it’s going to impact the future and how we can use it to help us.
“It’s an opportunity for those in the community just to learn more about artificial intelligence, what it means, how they can use it in day-to-day life, what the security concerns might be, how to use it ethically and responsibly. But it’s an opportunity for our organizations to partner together for the good of the community,” Dr. Evelyn Thrasher, the Dean of the Gordon Ford College of Business, says.
Dr. Whitney Peake, the Vitale Professor of Entrepreneurship at WKU, spoke from the perspective of how AI is impacting small businesses and how owners are using it efficiently to run and market those businesses. She says a panel like this is extremely important for members of the community.
“You have to lean on, not rely on AI in order to use those kinds of tools to create documents for your business… I think it really helps to reduce the stigma of people in using AI, and to see how it might be useful for them, and how to learn to use it ethically and safely, and to protect their security that some of the other panelists will be talking about,” she says.
Dr. Thad Crews, Associate Professor of Analytics and Information Systems, and Dr. Mark Ciampa, Professor of Analytics and Information Systems, also spoke on the panel from a real life and cybersecurity perspective, respectively.
Dr. Thrasher agrees with the importance of learning about AI so people can transition from fearing it to having confidence in using it.
“AI is such a powerful technology, such a powerful way to help us with decision making both professionally and personally… and so understanding just some very practical ways that we can use it in our day to day life really can make it seem less overwhelming, perhaps, and less scary for those in the community,” she says.
