Lights, Camera, Ethical AI in Action!

October 28, 2024

Anthology's Ethical AI in Action World Tour is now underway, bringing educational leaders together across the globe to advance knowledge on responsible AI use. We've already rolled out the pedagogical red carpet in the United States, Peru, Mexico, Australia, the Philippines, Chile, and Scotland, and the amazing response from attendees has us excited for all the upcoming stops on the tour.

Hitting 25 cities around the world in the final months of 2024, the Ethical AI in Action World Tour packs Anthology and Microsoft's vast insights on AI into an interactive, half-day agenda. Entry is free, but spaces are strictly limited, so be sure to find your nearest event and reserve your place while there's still availability!

The day starts by looking at AI development and overall considerations for responsible adoption in education before narrowing the focus to investigate how AI can inspire great learning experiences-both today and in the future-with Anthology experts on hand to outline how we're approaching these opportunities and challenges. There are workshop activities throughout, with an emphasis on working together to develop best practices for higher education.

My experience at the 'Ethical AI in Action' event organized by Anthology was extremely beneficial. As a director of online learning experiences, I was impressed by the clarity and vision in Anthology's roadmap, as well as the opportunity to share our comments and expectations as clients. It was particularly gratifying to hear instructors from my institution share their experiences and their clear understanding of how correct use of AI tools in teaching and learning processes can strengthen and elevate to new levels the development of student capabilities.

Silvana Balarezo, Director of Digital Learning Experiences, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas

The tour kicked off just as Anthology®Blackboard's AI Design Assistant-the first generative AI innovation brought to market by a major LMS-celebrated its first birthday. The AI Design Assistant uses artificial intelligence to streamline the course-building process, giving subject matter experts a head start on creating engaging, effective courses.

The adoption that we've seen over the first twelve months has been remarkable, so much so that we've recently released a white paper which details the process we went through to ensure these capabilities were appropriate for use in education, the benefits the AI Design Assistant has delivered for instructors, how this is making an impact at institutions, and the insights we've gleaned to date. (SPOILER ALERT: It's saving instructors a LOT of time! Take Bellevue University, for example, which has seen a 16-week instructional design cycle cut down to just eight weeks.)

Educators aren't the only ones who can benefit from AI, of course, and its use must be ethical and understood. One of our major focuses now is on helping students understand the strengths and weaknesses of AI. We think it's critically important that students have an opportunity to experience generative AI as part of their education, as they'll be expected to use this technology in the workforce. The new AI Conversation tool in Blackboard is intended to help with this AI literacy and expose students to generative AI in a responsible and pedagogically sound way.

While the event makes its way around the world, our product development team is busy further expanding the value of Blackboard and its industry-leading AI features. As announced in our recent roadmap webinar, Anthology will be expanding the capabilities of the AI Conversation tool, adding AI suggestions to the new Blackboard Content Designer to make it even easier to create attractive, engaging course materials, and rolling out our partnership with Obrizum to provide AI-powered, adaptive learning experiences in Blackboard.

It's an incredible time in higher education, and the industry is facing some serious challenges. However, when applied thoughtfully and ethically, AI can improve every aspect of the student experience.

All our development in the AI space is done following Anthology's Trustworthy AI Approach and in close consultation with our global learning community. The latest iteration of this is our Adaptive Learning Advisory Council, which has more than 200 participants from around the world and will be helping us map a responsible path as we develop the partnership with Obrizum.

All 25 Ethical AI in Action World Tour events will be hosted on campus at our partner institutions, and we're tremendously grateful to have access to these leading venues for higher learning as we delve into this crucial area.

We encourage you to join us on this transformative journey of Ethical AI in Action, and how AI can drive student success, support operational excellence, and allow institutions to gain efficiencies.

Secure your place at the Ethical AI in Action World Tour for FREE today!

Topics: Higher Education, Artificial Intelligence, Teaching & Learning, Digital Learning, Microsoft, Technology Adoption, Adaptive Online Learning, LMS, Student Success, Operational Efficiency