The focus on artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow, with academics being urged to embrace AI technologies to stay relevant and enhance their academic tasks.
At the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC), lecturers were recently challenged to incorporate AI tools in research and student engagement to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
During a webinar titled “Fundamentals to AI for Academics” led by Mr. Alvin Cudjoe, a trainer at Alx, lecturers were encouraged to utilize AI technologies to enhance teaching, research, publication, academic administration, and student engagement. The use of AI can aid in analyzing large datasets, identifying patterns, making predictions, conducting literature searches, paraphrasing, reference management, and plagiarism detection.
AI systems also have the potential to revolutionize education by promoting student involvement through chatbots, virtual assistants, adaptive learning opportunities, and automated grading. Furthermore, administrative tasks such as scheduling, resource allocation, student admissions, and decision-making processes can be streamlined with the help of AI technologies.
To fully leverage the benefits of AI in academia, Mr. Cudjoe recommended that lecturers upskill and utilize tools like Python, R programming, Jupyter Notebook, Tensor board, and IBM Watson studio for academic tasks. The webinar hosted by UniMAC’s Directorate of Research Innovation and Development (DRID) was attended by lecturers from the Institute of Journalism, the Institute of Film and Technology, and the Institute of Languages.
