Generative AI is a topic that currently engages many of us. It is present in corridor conversations, in our teaching and in the way we work. Even if not all the work is yet visible, a great deal is happening – both at the university-wide level and here at the Faculty – to understand what this means for our programmes and how we can best embrace AI in our activities.
For the Faculty leadership, this is a high-priority issue. We are actively involved in the university-wide working groups that are developing guidelines for the use of AI in education. I am part of the group working on behalf of the central Education Board, and Vice-Dean Karin Rengefors is leading the corresponding work for doctoral education. This means that we will be well prepared when it is time to formulate our own approaches and policies for the Faculty. It is an exciting process in a field that is developing rapidly.
At the same time, this is not a matter that can be handled only through policy documents – it needs to be explored in everyday practice. I would therefore like to encourage everyone to be curious: step into the AI playground and start experimenting. Try the different tools and see how much you can actually do.
For my own part, I use AI for everything from experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen to training new tricks with my dogs. It is also becoming an increasingly natural part of my workflow – helping me write, manage administrative tasks or locate an old email in my inbox. It frees up time for what matters most in my role: reading, reflecting and engaging with new questions. I can focus on the creative aspects while AI supports tasks that are repetitive or unnecessarily time-consuming, such as finding a document I read long ago.
Core competences and AI
However, the most important issue concerns our students. Today there is considerable uncertainty about what is permitted and what may be regarded as misconduct when using AI in studies. It is not reasonable for students to worry about disciplinary action because we have not been sufficiently clear. Each course needs to specify more clearly when and how AI may be used and for what purpose. To achieve this, we as teachers must also reflect on what we want students to learn and when AI can serve as a support.
Pedagogy plays a central role here. How can AI become a tool for deeper learning rather than something that replaces independent thinking? How can it help our students develop their reasoning, analyse and understand more? And how will this affect our forms of assessment and our view of independent work?
Recently, the Faculty’s network of Directors of Studies met to discuss the degree project – an independent piece of work assessed through a written report. One of the aspects highlighted in the workshop was the importance of the oral defence of the thesis in a seminar setting.
This also leads to a broader question: the digital perspective – in which AI is now a natural component. Should digitalisation and AI permeate all our programmes in the same way as internationalisation, sustainability, and gender equality and equal opportunities? This is a discussion we need to have together.
Here we start from a strong position. The Faculty of Science has come further than any other faculty at the University in integrating basic programming, modelling and digital competences into its programmes. Through our Master’s programmes in Computational Science, we have now taken a comprehensive approach in which advanced expertise in mathematical modelling is a natural component.
Available resources
There is already a great deal of concrete support related to AI. The University offers resources and training for both students and staff, including free courses via Moderskeppet and internal initiatives such as the Ad Hoc group. The issue of shared licences for key AI tools is also central and is moving forward.
The next step for the Faculty is to bring together competence and engagement in a more structured effort to explore how generative AI can best be used in our programmes – in a legally secure way, pedagogically well considered and with student learning in focus.
I would therefore also like to invite those of you who are interested in contributing to this work to get in touch with me, so that we can build momentum together.
This is a major issue, but perhaps not as large as it sometimes feels. Once AI is integrated into our ways of working, it will probably be experienced as a natural part of everyday life. The path there, however, is something we build together – with curiosity, reflection and a good dose of critical thinking.
So: bring your curiosity and step into the AI playground to explore. It is actually great fun!
/Charlotta Turner
Vice-Dean for first and second cycle education
PS. I have used AI to help formulate this text!
