The public release of ChatGPT has resulted in rapid changes to how the UBC community uses technology to perform some daily tasks today, with an expectation of a rapidly increasing expansion of utilization in the future. The public availability of a landscape of low barrier generative and other AI tools has resulted in immediate implications for UBC and other higher education institutions in areas like assessment and academic integrity and longer term can be expected to impact what and how we teach. Generative AI and other AI tools present opportunities for improving efficiency, reducing administrative burden, and for providing a better staff, faculty, and student experience across all areas of the institution.
As an example, ChatGPT and other GPT tools have the ability to analyze data. If confidential data is used, this data is stored in ChatGPT and can be used as part of the body of knowledge that is used to generate answers for questions asked by other users. This represents a significant privacy and security risk if users do not understand the implications and lack of privacy controls.
Finally, the pending regulatory changes with respect to AI may have implications for UBC of which we are not yet aware.
Proposed scope
A review of the institutional implications relating to the new wide availability of generative and gonversational AI capabilities with the release of ChatGPT v4. Scope may include other types of AI capability. The intention will be to be broader in nature for the first phase of the analysis which is exploratory in nature, to understand the full set of issues and opportunities.
Pedagogy
The task force will explore how generative AI may be integrated or limited, into curriculum and instruction to enhance student learning and engagement along with implications for assessment and potential supports for the student experience and faculty productivity through automation.
Campus experience
Examine how generative AI and other AI tools could be used to enhance and enable the experience of staff, faculty, and students and potential implications for privacy, equity, and security.
Administration
Examine how generative AI can be used to support people in their daily work, streamline and improve administrative processes within the institution and identify the risks and challenges that should be addressed.
Technology
Examine how generative AI may affect the technology landscape, including integration into major systems, cybersecurity risks and other enterprise risk.
Objectives
Assess the current state of generative AI and conversational AI, and where we might foresee capabilities in the next 1-5 years and the implications for UBC.
Identify benefits, risks and issues associated with the use of generative and conversational AI and recommend potential mitigations.
Identify potential areas within pedagogy, research, and administration where generative AI can be integrated and issues that need to be addressed.
Develop recommendations for integrating Generative AI into the higher education institution’s business model.
Deliverables
Committee duration: 12-18 months
The pace of change in this area means this will likely be an iterative process with findings delivered through multiple explorations and stages. Therefore, a timely summary of near-term recommendations will be useful for UBC to enable timely actions. The exploration may span a longer timeframe to allow for investigation and react to new developments.
The outcome will be a series of near-term reports outlining the findings and recommendations of the Committee.
Working group composition
Co-chairs: Bhushan Gopaluni, Heather Berringer, and Jennifer Burns as appointed by the Provost and Vice President Academic. Simon Bates will resume his position of co-chair following his administrative leave (June 2024).
Steering Committee: Comprised of functional and academic leaders from across UBC
Topical sub-working groups: Led by a Steering Committee member, and comprised of stakeholders with knowledge in specific areas such as academic, research, people, operations, privacy etc.
Experts in the field of generative AI or the technology industry will be brought in as required.
Time horizon
The expected length of the exploration will be 12-18 months. The Steering Committee is expected to have regular meetings and involve stakeholders throughout the process.