Yesterday I wrote personal reflections about my business school reunion. Today I have to share a tragic comment from the Dean of the school.
There was a town-hall type gathering where he spoke about the state of the school. One of the main topics was that the school was embracing artificial intelligence with enthusiasm. He spoke of how professors were being trained in it, students were encouraged to use it, and so on.
At the end he acknowledged that using AI polluted and depleted. I think he acknowledged even that the scale was already huge, accelerating, and without any ways to curb it.
His response to this acknowledgment: “We have to be cognizant of that.”
Be cognizant?
What kind of cop-out is “be cognizant of that”?
The school teaches leadership. The school is stepping on the gas to accelerate something whose arguably greatest measurable result is to violate the basic principles of this country, and beyond this country, the principles necessary for liberty, freedom, equality, democracy, and national security.
Credibility and integrity as leaders seems to require a response like “We have to stop that.”
I heard in his response an abdication of responsibility, promoting this group to get ahead at the short-term cost of the health and safety of others and the medium-term cost of the health and safety of everyone.
Even if the school’s embrace of AI works for the school and its near-term graduates, its preparation will become obsolete within a few semesters.
AI is no friend of education. It is an arms race leading to outcomes nobody wants, but all are pursuing out of desperation, fear, and lack of reflection to find an effective solution.
What was the last life decision you made out of desperation and fear that went well for you?
Sorry if the following is too blunt, but the school isn’t leading. It’s following at best, more like flailing and capitulating. I don’t mean to single out Columbia. I just happened to hear it there. I suspect most schools and institutions are acting similarly.