Leveraging AI

n recent years, liberal arts colleges and universities have seen a distinct shift toward students wanting to major in and pursue careers in STEM; this has been aided by the seismic shifts in knowledge exploding in STEM fields and a marketplace that pays bigger salaries, at least in the beginning, for people with STEM skills. As a liberal arts faculty devoted to multidisciplinary work, Vassar faculty have adapted by enhancing academic advising (e.g., pushing students to take wild-card courses outside their major interests); reducing credit hours needed for a major, enabling students to double-major, often combining STEM with humanities, language, arts, and social-science courses of study; and creating new multidisciplinary paths that integrate STEM and social sciences or humanities (e.g., Science, Technology, and Society; Data Science and Society; Cognitive Science; and Environmental Studies).

With the advent of AI, all bets are off. It seems that some STEM entry-level jobs may be replaced by AI. Instead of privileging coding or data-analysis skills, employers may be looking for the ability to integrate multiple disciplines, to think outside the box, and to anticipate problems and create solutions—all central to the education and curricular innovations for which Vassar is known. In particular, the multidisciplinary approach—crossing boundaries and finding new perspectives on old problems—may be most valued. This is vintage Vassar. Think Grace Hopper, Vera Rubin, Frances “Sissy” Farenthold, Urvashi Vaid, Anthony Bourdain, and many more.

How are we leveraging AI? To the extent that students, faculty, and staff are experimenting with generative AI in their everyday work, the College is actively pursuing ways to help them do so safely and responsibly—without putting Vassar data at risk. Researchers are using AI to record and transcribe qualitative data and to more quickly perform routine coding tasks. Faculty members in Cognitive Science have trained an AI on the same readings that are assigned to introductory students. Students then, as part of an assignment, must interrogate and evaluate the performance of the AI. Faculty across the College are considering new approaches to assessing knowledge and skills gained—from blue-book written exams to oral exams to integrative and creative individual and group projects. In short, the AI revolution is making us think and innovate, and that is good for higher education.

It is not all rosy. AI presents a whole new set of ethical, social, economic, political, and cultural dilemmas and challenges—issues that cannot be avoided and will impact our collective futures. This is the environment in which liberal arts best thrives: one that has opportunity, uncertainty, and the ability to create anew. Vassar students, faculty, and administrators are navigating these advances in education with openness and courage so that we can experiment, revise, and refine our work to meet the moment, as Vassar always does.