Western’s Centre for Teaching and Learning is using a weekly challenge to encourage exploration and deep thinking about artificial intelligence (AI).  The Generative AI Challenge is a free, eight-week project designed to help participants “untangle” the complicated realities and use of AI. Weekly exercises and mini-lessons – each one created by a different Western faculty, staff or student “challenger” – are posted online and emailed to participants.  From rewriting a song in a new genre to an online quiz gauging participants’ feelings on AI, the goal of the challenge is to share diverse perspectives and empower people to engage in informed discussions around AI. The GenAI Challenge tackles big themes, like the role and impact of AI on creativity and relationships. “Rather than challenging folks to adopt and use AI technologies in specific ways, the foundational goal of this series is to challenge participants to expand their ways of thinking about generative AI technologies and their impact, both positive and negative, by building knowledge,” said Dani Dilkes, e-learning and curriculum specialist at the Centre for Teaching and Learning. 

“We hope to continue to foster these important conversations, inclusive of diverse perspectives, on what is an increasingly pervasive and divisive topic.” – Dani Dilkes, e-learning and curriculum specialist, Centre for Teaching and Learning

Already, the GenAI Challenge – now more than halfway done – is drawing interest. The first four posts on the website registered about 3,000 views. Participants from more than 40 colleges and universities across the world, as far away as Mauritius and Australia, have signed up to receive the weekly challenges by email.   “We knew this challenge had potential to reach beyond the Western community, but the response has been beyond what we imagined,” said Cortney Hanna-Benson, associate director of digital learning at the Centre for Teaching and Learning.  “The GenAI Challenge speaks to the evolving needs of our community. We wanted to offer something that felt timely, useful and easy for anyone to jump into. It’s all about meeting people where they are and helping them feel more confident exploring GenAI on their own time and at their own pace.”  The lessons aren’t restricted to higher education, either. Anyone is welcome to sign up or engage with the challenge.  “It’s a global issue. People are using these technologies in their day-to-day lives and they’re having an impact on our work, our relationships,” Dilkes said.  “We hope to challenge people to really consider their values and expand their minds a little bit, regardless of whether they’re in higher education or community members more broadly.”   

Western leads the way on AI 

Western researchers across faculties are exploring the power and potential of AI.   In 2023, Mark Daley was appointed chief AI officer in a newly created role. Western was the first university in Canada to include the position within its senior executive.   Daley said the Centre for Teaching and Learning is promoting essential conversations about AI.  “The GenAI Challenge is a fantastic opportunity for our community – and beyond – to think critically about how this rapidly-evolving technology is affecting our lives, filtered through a new lens each week,” he said.  Western has shared a broader institutional commitment to advancing ethical and effective use of AI in teaching, learning and research.   The university’s AI policy includes a core principle: Experiment responsibly, safely and ethically.  The Centre for Teaching and Learning’s online challenge, launched in May, explores a variety of complexities in the world of AI.    Week 1: AI literacy   Dilkes kicked off the challenge with an introductory lesson that offers societal and educational context for the generative AI conversation and concerns. The first lesson outlines frameworks for understanding – and building – AI literacy and awareness.  Week 2: Bias and stereotypes  PhD student Pinar Barlas, in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS), examines how both humans and AI tools use biases and stereotypes to filter information. The challenge encourages participants to “test” their preferred GenAI tools for bias. Week 3: Transformers and how they’re trained  Computer science student Noah Kostesku gives the background on all things generative AI, explaining how these “digital brains” are developed and how they work. His challenge helps participants refine their prompts for generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini or CoPilot. Week 4: AI caution  FIMS professor Luke Stark dives into our relationships with AI, including the idea of developing deep feelings or emotional connections. He outlines how large language models work and prompts participants to interact with a version of the ELIZA program (first developed in 1966) to compare it to modern tools. Week 5: AI assessment   Political science professor Dan Bousfield probes the use of AI for academic assessments and outlines those methods most vulnerable to its use, such as essays, multiple-choice exams and policy briefs.   Dilkes’ lesson included an online survey participants could take to share their appetite and comfort level around AI.  Though the GenAI series is tailored to be inclusive of early AI adopters as well as skeptics, the majority of participants who responded to Dilkes’ quiz expressed optimism.  Their answers suggested the majority have an eagerness to learn – or at least try out – emerging AI tools and consider how they could be used.  When asked how they felt about generative AI, 53 per cent of those who responded to the online survey said they were “intrigued” and another 14 per cent were excited.  That positivity doesn’t necessarily represent sentiment more broadly, Dilkes noted, especially since people interested in the challenge may naturally be more optimistic about AI.  “This is just the start. The challenge sparked so much great energy and conversation, and it’s clear there’s a real appetite for more,” Hanna-Benson said.   “What excites me most is the opportunity to keep building on this momentum with programming from the Centre for Teaching and Learning that not only explores GenAI, but brings together and amplifies voices from across campus.”  For more information or to participate in the weekly challenges, visit the Centre for Teaching and Learning.