2024 Academic Summit Program

Keynote Speaker

Professor Sid Dobrin, University of Florida
Generative AI and Higher Education: a few provocations

Since the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022, higher education has begun to adjust from the “deer in the headlights” phase to serious considerations about how GenTech will integrate into college-level education. While resistance to GenAI in the classroom remains prevalent across the country (and the world, to be honest about it) increasingly, educational institutions are beginning to ask conceptual and application questions about using GenAI. This presentation will first demystify how AI and GenAI work and then address several possibilities for how to think about GenTech moving forward. The presentation will pose questions about conceptual AI and applied AI to further generate conversation and will focus on responsible use for deploying AI in higher education.

Sid Dobrin Professor and Chair in the Department of English at the University of Florida. Recognized as one of the world’s most sought-after academic experts on AI and as a global AI thought leader, Dobrin has delivered more than 35 talks about AI and GenAI to academic and industry audiences this year. He is the Founding Director of the Trace Innovation Initiative at UF and has been named a Digital Thought Leader by Adobe. He is the author and editor of numerous books and articles, including Talking about Generative AI: A Guide for Educators, and the first AI-focused writing textbook AI and Writing. He serves as a Member of The Florida Institute of National Security (FINS), part of the University of Florida’s AI Initiative, and, as such was invited to attend the US Department of Defense’s Task Force Lima Industry and Academia Challenge Day. He has recently been invited to address the US Congressional Committee on Education and the Workforce about AI and GenAI.