Like many Macalester alumni, I went to college before email, cellphones, Wikipedia, or grammar-correcting software. As an undergraduate, I could not have imagined the opportunities\u2014and challenges\u2014facing today\u2019s students, who increasingly will be expected by employers to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools in their work after graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As AI resources become ubiquitous, abundant headlines question the relevance of higher education, suggesting machines may diminish the need for human learning. Understandably, there is one question I am asked at nearly every event where I am speaking to groups of alumni, parents, or civic leaders: am I worried that AI will replace traditional higher education? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My answer, which may be surprising to some, is I am confident that it won\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What sustains my confidence is the thoughtful way our faculty, staff, and students are engaging this latest technological innovation. For example, this fall, we will offer several interdisciplinary classes grappling with the complexity of AI including \u201cThinking Internationally About (and With) AI and ChatGPT\u201d (crosslisted between international studies and computer science) and \u201cPhilosophy of AI\u201d (crosslisted between philosophy and computer science). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re also being mindful about AI\u2019s moral dimensions, limitations, and environmental impacts, including consideration of how to use AI tools while honoring Mac\u2019s longstanding sustainability commitments. An advisory group composed of faculty, staff, and students is developing guidelines for AI uses both in and outside the classroom. Our center for teaching and learning is fostering dialogue among the faculty about how AI is affecting pedagogies. And Mac community members are contributing to national and global conversations about ethical frameworks for responsible AI use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, new technologies come with big questions about how to maximize benefit while protecting from potential harms. And that\u2019s where the liberal arts approach can be most helpful. It is a way of learning that is deliberately broad, interdisciplinary, and animated by curiosity. We train students to make meaning of what they learn and discover. Our students have the skills to ask critical questions, connect ideas across disciplines, communicate effectively, use evidence to support their arguments, work in teams, and see issues from different points of view. We prepare them to take these skills into their workplaces, graduate programs, and communities as engaged thinkers, doers, and leaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Accordingly, it\u2019s no surprise that employers tell us they love Mac students. Last year, our job\/graduate school\/fellowship placement rate for alumni six months after graduation was 93 percent\u2014a figure we\u2019re tracking especially closely as a key metric of our Imagine, Macalester strategic plan. Through this plan, we\u2019re amplifying the human-centered learning that is at the heart of a Macalester education: faculty-mentored research, experiential learning through study away and internships, and cultivating a sense of shared social responsibility in a vibrant urban community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are preparing students not only for their first job, but also for future jobs that don\u2019t even exist yet\u2014much in the same way that my own \u201ctechnology-free\u201d education prepared me to navigate a world of Wikipedia and smartphones. And we\u2019re taking steps to update our curriculum so that it will remain vital, relevant, and attractive to future students. We are encouraged in this important work by the feedback we received recently from the Higher Learning Commission, which conducted a thorough accreditation assessment of the college\u2019s performance relative to its mission and student success outcomes. We are pleased that the college has been reaccredited through 2035.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, no, we\u2019re not afraid of AI. We\u2019re leaning confidently into the liberal arts with a deep appreciation for knowledge, discovery, ethics, creativity, and reverence for our shared humanity. When I see how well we prepare our students to lead lives of meaning and purpose, I\u2019m not worried about our future\u2014I\u2019m excited to see how our students will help shape it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While AI tools are powerful, they do not replace our need for human judgment, thoughtful discernment, or the ability to construct meaning. Those capabilities are precisely what we provide at Mac. As we prepare the leaders of tomorrow who will make decisions about how society engages with AI, I am confident that a liberal arts education will be more essential in the years ahead, not less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Suzanne M. Rivera is president of Macalester College.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Suzanne M. Rivera reflects on the complexity of AI and the value of a liberal arts education.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":881,"featured_media":32989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","mediatype-articles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"fields":{"main_feature_story":"","custom_image":false,"custom_link_url":"","custom_feature_title":"","custom_feature_caption":"","custom_markup":"","custom_markup_link":"","custom_markup_title":"","custom_markup_caption":"","byline":"Dr. Suzanne M. Rivera","article_type":[8],"post_thumbnail_style":"default","flickr_photoset_id":"","youtube_id":"","square_thumbnail":false,"press_downloads":false,"press_photos":false,"story_title":"","story_caption":"","rotations":false,"maps":false,"marker_title":"","marker_text":"","geographic_location":false,"feature_embed":"","news_icon_name":"","image_options":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/881"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32987"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33053,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32987\/revisions\/33053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}