Birkbeck leans into the conversation on AI

Birkbeck recently held its inaugural AI Summit, attended by colleagues from across the University, members of its alumni, plus external stakeholders; and is taking steps to develop a policy framework to formalize how and where to use AI tools at work.

The two-day forum explored where Birkbeck currently stands in its approach to artificial intelligence and examined the opportunities, challenges, and risks it might face in the future. Through presentations and break-out discussions, Birkbeck staff and external experts shared thought-provoking insights on AI in research, teaching, administration, management and leadership.

Joanne Leal, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Innovation and Academic Development said “I’m so pleased to see the level of excitement and possibility that has come out of Birkbeck’s AI Summit. It’s even more encouraging given we had colleagues from across the University but also key external people who were able to contribute bold and innovative ideas to the discussions. This is not a completely new conversation for us. Birkbeck has been considering and addressing all of the opportunities, and challenges, associated with AI and we already have initiatives in place for areas such as teaching and assessment.”

Sean Green, Interim Chief Information Officer said, “When we set about putting together this Summit, we recognised that key to its success would be getting engagement from across the board, getting the right people in the room and importantly having the right people lead on the keynote presentations and other presentations; people who had prior experience and could set some benchmarks to guide the conversation. I’m pleased to say we achieved all of that and more.”

The discussions, held in-person and online, delved into themes including AI’s impact on higher education, emerging trends and technologies, the responsible and ethical use of AI and practical applications in administration and leadership.

On day one of the Summit, Keynote speaker, Professor Kate Devlin (King’s College, London) presented, ‘Beyond the Hype: Generative AI in Higher Education’, looking at the transformative potential of new AI technologies and ways in which institutional policy and practice must evolve in response. Bite-sized sessions, later in the morning, provided space to hear topics including ‘AI and Academic Integrity’ and ‘How UK institutions are using AI to transform the student experience’; with afternoon sessions including ‘Building a responsible AI strategy at Birkbeck’ and ‘Skills and Support needed for AI implementation’.

The second keynote presentation on day two of the Summit saw Dr James Wood from Bangor University present on ‘Assessment in the age of AI: What do we need to know? What do we need to do?’, a topic that spoke to the concerns of a majority of participants and offered ways insightful to address them. Day two also saw participants hear from a panel of external experts on 'AI and the Future of Work'. Chaired by George Roussos, Professor of Pervasive Computing, the panel included Birkbeck alumnae Michelle Conway, Lead Data Scientist at Lloyds Banking Group and Fiona Dent, General Partner of Edge Investments. Matt Franklin, Chief Strategy Officer from Roc Technologies completed the panel. A fascinating and lively discussion followed that ranged across a wide spectrum of areas including the diverse applications of AI, how skillsets are evolving across different sectors, the importance of lifelong learning and the impact of AI on equality of opportunity.

Plans are now underway to engage with all staff on the consultation for the development of the AI policy framework over the Summer. The Academic Standards and Quality (ASQ) team are holding sessions to support academic colleagues in testing the vulnerability of their assessments to unauthorized AI use and making them more robust, while on 30 July a workshop session to develop AI skills training will take place. Birkbeck also continues to promote a suite of AI courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.