The journey to develop this “emerging technologies course” began on October 6, 2023, when Jeff Abbott presented to our college leaders and faculty members about the necessity and urgency of equipping future Haslam students with a fundamental understanding and hands-on experience in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI).
Jeff Abbott, the CEO of Ivanti, highlighted his company’s proactive strategy with Governance Charters and Guiding Principles for approaching GenAI. Abbott emphasized that “while traditional AI aims to perform specific tasks based on predefined rules and patterns, GenAI goes beyond this limitation and strives to create entirely new data that resembles human-created content – it does so by measuring and optimizing to expected human response”.
This limitless technology is expected to impact the future labor market, business operations, and society as a whole. In particular, Abbott encouraged Haslam faculty members to develop an effective strategy that would enable our students to integrate GenAI into their learning experiences and future career development.
Since then, we have been collaborating to develop this course for the first cohort, set to launch in Spring 2025. In future semesters, the course will be expanded to become a requirement for all undergraduate business students.
Our vision is briefly summarized in the “Learn More” section. We have broadened the course coverage to include not only GenAI but also other emerging technologies. We anticipate various challenges with the first cohort and in future semesters, as this course must be regularly updated to incorporate “emerging technologies” essential for future business students. Simultaneously, we must design creative solutions for assessment and student engagement. We hope that these efforts, along with the support of our leaders and colleagues in the college, will provide our students with a solid foundation, enabling them to navigate the fast-changing world and pursue their dreams with confidence.
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