Advertise on podcast: AI in Academia: Navigating the Future

In this episode of AI in Academia, we talk with Brian Fox, Associate Professor of Management and Strategy at Bentley University, about AI's real impact on research and teaching. Brian shares a striking metaphor: a sealed biodome where the trees collapsed because there was no wind to push against. Without struggle, nothing grew strong. It's a fitting image for a moment when AI is engineered to "chew our food" for us. We get into where AI actually helps research (and where it can't), hallucinated citations, the rise of "AI slop," and why the journey now matters more than the final deliverable.

Alessandro Di Lullo (CEO) and Danny Bielik (President) of the Digital Education Council (DEC) share fresh data from DEC's ongoing global surveys, including why the student-faculty AI gap is finally starting to close — and why "usage" is no longer the right question to ask. The conversation digs into how assessment is being redesigned from the ground up, why critical thinking isn't enough without judgment (knowing when to stop, when something is "good enough"), and why higher ed's biggest challenge may be its own speed relative to industry. Show Guests Alessandro Di Lullo  is the Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Education Council (DEC), a global community of practice driving AI adoption, governance, and sustainable innovation in higher education and workforce development. Academically, Adjunct Faculty Member at Singapore Management University and Academic Fellow at the University of Hong Kong, specialising in AI governance. Also Co-Founder of SuperCharger Ventures, a world leading edtech accelerator that helped hundreds of startups and scale-ups accelerate innovation in education.  Daniel A. Bielik is the President of the Digital Education Council (DEC). As President of DEC, his work involves assisting universities and governments to increase access to high quality education, to reform education systems and providers to become more adaptable and take advantage of a changing technological landscape. Daniels extensive experience includes strategy development, governance and partnerships in higher education and serving as Ministerial Adviser in Education to the NSW Government in Australia.

In this special live episode, recorded in front of a student audience, Joe Dery, Chief Customer Officer at Aera Technology, and Jane Griffin, Associate Provost for Student Success at Bentley University, join us to explore: "How do colleges use analytics and AI to make decisions?" Together, we unpack how universities are leveraging analytics and AI behind the scenes to drive more informed decisions around student success. The conversation highlights the shift from “dashboard palooza” to “AI agent palooza,” and why decision intelligence is emerging as the next evolution of business intelligence. Our guests also emphasize the critical balance between technology and human judgment, underscoring the importance of transparency, strong data governance, and the ethical use of student data.

Dr. Jennifer Brown is the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Bentley University and a scholar of English, Medieval Studies, and Women's Studies---as well as a novelist! She joins us to discuss how AI is impacting writing and creativity, how to teach writing in the age of AI, and what we can learn about all this by looking back to the biggest disruption in the long history of writing technology: the invention of the printing press.

Dr. Dave Rivera Jr., professor of applied management at Flagler College, shares his experiences exploring generative AI with his students in business classes. He discusses ways of getting honest feedback on when AI helps students learn and when it doesn't, how he uses AI to reinforce but not replace creative and critical thinking, and how he keeps up with the fast, evolving pace of AI. You might walk away from this episode feeling a little more optimistic about the future---we did!

Jeff LeBlanc, a Lecturer of Management at Bentley University discusses the evolving role of AI in business education and leadership. Jeff shares insights on the human elements of organizational behavior, emphasizing that while AI is a powerful tool for generating ideas, it cannot replace genuine human connection and empathy. The conversation explores Jeff’s engaged empathy leadership model, highlighting the importance of kindness, fairness, and structure in guiding students and future leaders.

Nathan Carter, Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Director of the Center for Analytics and Data Science at Bentley University, joins the podcast to share his current research on whether AI can accurately grade mathematical proofs and provide meaningful feedback to students. The conversation explores the challenges of precision, logic, and ethical concerns in AI-assisted grading, and considers broader implications for teaching, learning, and faculty development. Listeners will also gain insights from Bentley’s participation in the AAC&U Institute for AI in Pedagogy and Curriculum, including practical frameworks for evaluating and integrating AI tools in higher education.

Denny Hummer. assistant director of the Bucknell SBDC and Amber Guerrero, a business consultant at Bucknell SBDC discuss their roles in driving the use of AI among local entrepreneurs in Pennsylvania. They share their experiences with AI, including how it has transformed their work processes and improved efficiency. They emphasize the importance of AI in providing better service to clients and the need for students to learn and use AI tools effectively. The conversation highlights the evolution of AI in small business development, the integration of AI in educational settings, and the impact of AI on student internships and job roles.

Mareike Möhlmann, associate professor of computer information systems at Bentley University, discusses how her university has been working on guidelines and guidance for faculty around AI, what Uber tells us about the future of AI and work, and how to support digital literacy.

Dr. Dawn Edmiston, an award-winning Clinical Professor of Marketing at William & Mary (W&M) discusses the use of generative AI for personal branding and digital marketing, practical strategies, challenges, and ethical considerations for integrating AI in the classroom and online learning. She also dives into the importance of asking better questions, and how AI can support—not replace—human creativity and connection.

Karen Saxe and Courtney Gibbons, two math professors who moved into careers in public policy, discuss Congress’s response to AI, key legislation affecting AI literacy, ethical concerns and bias, AI’s role in teaching and research, the U.S. vs. EU approach to AI regulation, and how academics can engage in policy-making at the local and national levels. NOTE: This episode was recorded on September 10, 2024. As you will hear in our intro, our guests on this episode work on public policies and with the current changes in the administration some of the discussions you will hear may no longer apply. Our guest Courtney Gibbons lost her intermittent expert appointment at the NSF. Gary C. Peters is now ranking member of the committee I worked for (HSGAC).

Julian Togelius, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at NYU's Tandon School of Engineering, discusses AI and games, learning strategies to assess AI in teaching, strategies for designing assessments, and when to use or avoid AI.

Ian Cross, Senior Lecturer in Marketing @ Bentley University, discusses one of Bentley's first AI courses, the impact of AI in advertising and marketing, AI's relation to the printing press, how AI helps companies evaluate and assess their brand, and why AI might be the next big wave of economic opportunity.

Melissa Hey, lecturer in Natural and Applied Sciences at Bentley University, discusses her experiences teaching environmental science and sustainability in a post-ChatGPT world. Melissa shares how she AI-proofed her assignments, how much is too much AI to bring into the classroom, what worked well, what didn't, and the importance of collecting student feedback and data.

Lindsey Kosinski, Associate Director of Business Intelligence at Bentley University and a student of Bentley’s Masters in Analytics program, discusses her journey of upskilling before and after the release of ChatGPT, how students can leverage tools like it to learn more effectively in a dynamic environment, the skills that remain crucial as generative AI proliferates, and the evolution of business intelligence from the early days of big data to today.