· Katie Steen · 2 min read
Empowering Universities Through AI Training
Why meaningful AI adoption in universities depends on empowering staff and leaders with the knowledge, confidence, and involvement to shape decisions.
I’ve found myself this week trying to think of a catchy, yet accurate tagline for our new company – WorkSmart-AI. After considering many options (admittedly with the assistance of AI!) and whittling that down to a shortlist, I found myself making a case for a tagline that contained the word “empower”.
I’m not normally one for big, dramatic wording, but this word resonated with so many of my thoughts recently about the importance of having open and honest debates about how society collectively shapes the future of AI. Of critical significance to my area of work, how we need to recognise the importance of involving all stakeholders in the conversation about its impact on the workplace and the HE sector moving forwards.
But open and honest discussions around AI can surely only be had between people who are informed with the facts and knowledge needed to join in. Unless they are “empowered” with the relevant information and skills, then how is it possible for people to be confident in their thoughts and decisions?
Additionally, having spent several decades working with colleagues in education, an overriding reality is that no one likes being “done to”. It’s a sure-fire way to get people’s backs up and instantly create opposition to any of your ideas.
Much better to involve people in the decision-making process, (whether that’s which AI software to use or strategic approach to take for example) informing them of options and communicating clearly at each step of the journey towards making a decision. Ultimately it may not be the decision that they’d have chosen, but (hopefully) they’ll be a lot more supportive through understanding the rationale and feeling listened to.
Bringing it back to the word “empower”, I feel this encapsulates nicely how I feel towards the value of the AI training that we at WorkSmart-AI provide to universities. It arms people with the information and skills (and thereby power) to be able to understand the opportunities and challenges that AI poses to their roles and the wider HE sector.
It also critically empowers those in leadership with the confidence to embrace others’ opinions and ideas, ensuring a more productive and robust decision-making process.
The tagline that we’ve therefore decided upon? – ‘Empowering universities through AI training’.
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