Provost Garrett Leads Panel on AI in Higher Ed at AAU Chief Academic Officers Meeting

On September 11, 2023, Carnegie Mellon University Provost James H. Garrett Jr. led a panel of fellow provosts and chief academic officers from across the country at the Association of American Universities (AAU) Chief Academic Officers Meeting in Washington, D.C. Provost Garrett was joined by panelists Charles Lee Isbell, Jr., provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Beverly Wendland, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at Washington University in St. Louis.

"Carnegie Mellon is a leader in the AI field and we were so pleased to have Provost Garrett lead a discussion with peer institutions on this critical topic that all universities are grappling with," shared Ken Goldstein, senior vice president for Survey Research and Institutional Policy at AAU. "The discussion was very fruitful and I think our academic leaders definitely left it feeling more equipped to consider AI’s impacts on their own institutions."

The panel, "Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Higher Education," explored the unique role of artificial intelligence across the industry. Provosts Garrett, Isbell and Wendlend guided a robust conversation on how academic leaders are finding ways to accentuate the positive and mitigate the negative impacts of AI in the classroom and on campuses. The panel explored the challenges and opportunities AI poses to policy, curriculum, operations and infrastructure. Attendees shared experiences from their own schools during the conversation and discussed best practices for the future as AI tools and technologies, as well as how we use them, evolve.

Provost Garrett shared, "I always find it beneficial to have these types of conversations with our peers about the same challenges we are all facing. Being a part of discussions like the ones facilitated at AAU meetings is rewarding and helps me understand other perspectives and approaches that may help inform our own here at CMU."

Founded in 1900, the AAU is composed of America’s leading research universities. CMU has been an AAU member since 1982.