Recent presentation to the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Athabasca University on the uses and misuses of AI, with a particular focus on academic and workplace applications and the importance of developing AI literacy.

1. Athabasca University Faculty of Graduate Studies
March 8, 2024
Stella Lee, PhD.
AI Uses and Misuses:
Academic and Workplace Applications

2. Welcome
A little bit about me:
• EdTech and AI strategist, startup mentor,
tech columnist, international speaker,
and community builder
• 20 years experience in higher education,
private sector, government, non-profit,
and NGO
• Consulted for the UN, Unicef, LinkedIn
Learning, Asian Development Bank,
University of British Columbia, and the
Government of Yukon
• I am based in Calgary, Canada

3. AI Is All Around Us

4. First, a question
How long do you think the concept of
AI has been around?
• 5 years
• 10 years
• 20 years
• 40 years
• 70 years

5. First, a question
How long do you think the concept of
AI has been around?
• 5 years
• 10 years
• 20 years
• 40 years
• 70 years
Source: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E4liuxOXoBMBezc.jpg
Published in October 1950, over 74 years
ago.

6. History of AI
Source: https://digitalwellbeing.org/artificial-intelligence-timeline-infographic-from-eliza-to-tay-and-beyond/

7. History of AI
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/most-insane-week-history-ai-bhasker-gupta/

8. Understand the
Current AI
Landscape

9. Focus on Generative AI
• A lot of focus are on Gen AI.
• Generative AI is a subset of
AI – Gen AI refers to a class
of artificial intelligence that
specializes in creating
content, whether that be
text, images, or even music.
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jeffreyrwinter_chatgpt-ai-artificialintelligence-activity-
7049759548873551872-3bml

10. Focus on Generative AI
• The most familiar examples include text-
based models like ChatGPT, image
generators such as DALL-E, and AI that
composes music.
Copilot

11. A Very Crowded Marketplace
Source: https://www.futurepedia.io/
• There is an overwhelming
number of AI tools out there
• Futurepedia.io, one of the
popular AI tool repository
sites, listed over a total of
5745 AI tools in 10 categories

12. A Very Crowded Marketplace
Source: https://theresanaiforthat.com/
• There’s An AI For That
(TAAFT) website listed 12,482
AI tools for 16,596 tasks

13. Emerging Practices
Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai
• Policies, guidelines, best
practices are emerging (e.g.
EU AI Act, Canada’ AI and
Data Act)
• Companies are still in the
early stage of adopting AI –
very silo approach and
lacking enterprise-wide
strategy, investment in
infrastructure, resources, and
people
The Regulatory Framework defines 4 levels of
risk for AI systems:

14. Academic and
Workplace
Applications

15. Academic Applications
AI can be used for study and research:
Image & Graph
Generation
Lit Review
Ideas
generation
Draft
Paper/Edit
Create images
based on text
prompts
Help with literature
search, interact with
content to
summarize and ask
questions
Generate topic ideas Writing and editing
aid
Presentation
Create
presentations
based on text
prompts

16. Academic Applications
Use it for:
● Conducting literature search and review
● Finding related works
● Explaining difficult concepts
● Summarizing key takeaways
● Asking questions
Use it for:
● Generating research paper titles, keywords,
and abstracts
● Discussing research findings
● Create an outline for your paper
● Generating ideas for follow-up research
https://chat.openai.com/
https://typeset.io/

17. Workplace Applications
AI can be used for admin automation and productivity aid:
Content creation:
• E.g. Create outline
of your writing,
write press
releases, memos,
newsletters, create
images for
presentations
Collaboration:
• E.g. Allow staff to
collaborate on
projects and
learning together
Brainstorming
ideas:
• E.g. Generate task
lists, come up with
scenarios and
examples, refine
your ideas or
provide
alternatives
Automating or
streamlining repetitive,
mundane, and time-
consuming tasks:
• E.g. Note taking,
prioritize daily tasks,
create meeting
agendas, explain or
summarize a concept
and list the main points.

18. Workplace Applications
Use it for:
● Content creation and formatting
● Get up-to-date content
● Specialized topics
● Integrating outputs with other Google
products
Use it for:
● Note taking and organizing your life
● AI to improve writing, change tone, translate
● Brainstorm ideas, create meeting agenda,
write press releases, blog posts, social media
posts, etc.
● Collaborate with your team on tasks
https://www.notion.so/
https://gemini.google.com

19. Capabilities, Limitations, and Challenges
Sources: https://nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2024/03/04/generative-ai-primer/ and
https://em360tech.com/tech-article/understanding-limitations-and-challenges-generative-ai

20. More on Limitations
PROMPT: create a Comparison table between Open AI
GPT4 and Google Gemini, with columns on capabilities,
limitations, and challenges.

21. More on Limitations
PROMPT: create a graphical diagram with colors to
illustrate this comparison

22. Let’s Play – Which Face is Real?
Source: https://www.whichfaceisreal.com/

23. Using AI To Learn About Bias and Tech Limitations
source: https://app.leonardo.ai/ai-generations

24. Using AI To Learn About Bias and Tech Limitations
source: https://app.leonardo.ai/ai-generations

25. Developing AI
Literacy

26. Introducing the AI Literacy Framework
Source: https://paradoxlearning.com/e-learning/developing-ai-literacy-for-ld/

27. Three Competency Levels
Level 1 - Introductory Level 2 – Intermediate Level 3 - Advanced
AI Fundamentals Define commonly used
terminology such as “training
data”, “algorithm”, “generative
AI”, “hallucinations”, etc. and
explain the significance of these
terms in the context of AI
development and application
Describe distinctions between
AI subfields such as machine
learning, deep learning,
computer vision, and robotics
Identify major milestones, key
techniques, and contributors in
the development of AI
Review and critique foundational
AI research papers, policies, or
projects and summarize the
findings
Evaluate the strengths,
weaknesses, and best-use cases
for various AI algorithms
Explain the fundamental idea
behind how machines "learn",
different types of learning (e.g.
supervised, unsupervised,
reinforcement), and their learning
processes
Contribute to the discipline of AI
by engaging in original research
or innovation projects that
advance the field of AI
Predict potential challenges in
implementing AI in real-world
scenarios, and propose new
solutions
Teach AI concepts to others,
mentor emerging talents in the
field, and contribute to the
development of educational
materials and courses in AI
Source: https://paradoxlearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AI-Literacy-
Competency-Framework-for-Educator_new-1.pdf

28. Wrap Up
“Artificial Intelligence is
not a substitute for human
intelligence; it is a tool to
amplify human creativity
and ingenuity.”
— Fei-Fei Li, Co-Founder, AI4ALL
Any lingering
questions? Things you
want to share with
others?
Feedback on this talk
will be greatly
appreciated!
Q&A
Feedback

29. Resources
 History of AI Timeline
 Artificial Intelligence Timeline
 Futurepedia - AI Tools Repository
 There's An AI For That (TAAFT)
 EU AI Act Regulatory Framework
 Typeset(SciSpace)
 ChatGPT at OpenAI
 Google Gemini
 Notion
 Generative AI Primer
 Understanding Limitations and Challenges of
Generative AI
 Which Face is Real?
 AI Image Generations - Leonardo
 Developing AI Literacy
 AI Literacy Competency Framework
 AI for All

30. Thank you!
Connect with me:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stellal/
stella@paradoxlearning.com