Spotlight on AI
Generative artificial intelligence is in the spotlight at Boston College, as a wide range of events and resources for faculty and staff provide opportunities to explore and experiment with the technology, from ongoing information sessions to the hands-on AI 'test kitchen' series and upcoming BC Talks AI event, as well as two recent academic conferences exploring issues surrounding the expansion of AI in society.
Billy Soo (Caitlin Cunningham)
As the technology continues to grow rapidly, a collaboration between the Campus AI Steering Committee, which consists of faculty, staff, and students; Information Technology Services (ITS); the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), and the Center for Digital Innovation in Learning (CDIL), invites faculty and staff to shape the future of generative artificial intelligence at BC. The goal is a community-oriented approach with different kinds of programs that meet faculty where they are, said Vice Provost for Faculties Billy Soo.
“Everyone has different levels of knowledge and comfort with AI. Everyone, regardless of whether they consider themselves a novice, expert, advocate, or opponent, can be involved with discussions on how to best use AI.”
'AI Lunch and Learn Series'
An AI Lunch and Learn series hosted by the Campus AI Steering Committee showcases how faculty are attending to the challenges of teaching and working in the AI context. It will continue in April with a session dedicated to exploring AI’s potential at Boston College.
“Working at BC in an Age of AI: Using AI for Productivity,” on Wednesday, April 15, at 12 p.m. in Gasson 100, invites faculty and staff to share examples of how they are using AI in their work to streamline repetitive tasks and assist with complex challenges. Catherine Conahan of the Connell School of Nursing, Lynn Berkley of Facilities Management, and Stéf Cahill Farella and Caitlin Aubuchon of Human Resources will lead the session.
“Working at BC in an Age of AI” is the third event in this spring’s AI Lunch and Learn series. Other sessions included “Teaching at BC in an Age of AI: Experiences Teaching Writing” and “Research at BC in an Age of AI: AI as a Tool in the Researcher's Toolkit.”
AI Learning Exchange
The Center for Digital Innovation in Learning (CDIL) is offering ongoing, exploratory AI events for faculty and staff, including the AI Learning Exchange, a community-based session that meets throughout the academic year on Zoom where faculty can share AI use cases and connect about recent developments in AI.
The next AI Learning Exchange sessions will take place April 10 and April 24, both at 2 p.m. on Zoom.
AI Test Kitchen
The CDIL also offers a hands-on environment where faculty engage in experiential learning about AI, according to CDIL Assistant Director for Design Innovation Timothy Lindgren. No previous technological experience is required to attend; the workshops use a design thinking approach that emphasizes learning how to effectively frame questions and use plain language to create and direct a custom AI assistant, Lindgren explained.
“By creating a low-pressure space to experiment, fail, and iterate, participants learn that building a custom AI assistant is less about coding and more about shaping behavior with natural language, or the words we use every day.
“They walk away not just with a concrete prototype, but with a deeper, hands-on understanding of AI's possibilities and limitations."
Nearly 100 members of the BC community have participated in an AI Test Kitchen event so far, about two-thirds of whom are staff and one-third are faculty. Participants represent eight of BC’s schools and colleges, and several divisions, offices, and centers including Student Affairs, Human Resources, and Institutional Research & Planning, to name a few.
Can Erbil
Among participants was Morrissey College Professor of the Practice Can Erbil, who was interested in creating an AI assistant for his large introductory course, Principles of Economics.
Erbil has been experimenting with an AI oral-assessment platform called Professr.io that allows instructors to create a course-specific AI interviewer trained on their own materials. The AI tool can then conduct short, conversational interviews with students about course concepts, asking follow-up questions and probing their reasoning.
What surprised Erbil most in building the AI assistant was how much design thinking happens before anything technical.
“I expected the hardest part to be the technical side, but instead I found myself spending the most time thinking carefully about the role of the chatbot. In other words, it’s less about coding and more about shaping behavior with words," Erbil said.
“Compared to simply reading about AI assistants, the Test Kitchen was especially helpful. The hands-on loop of testing student-style questions, capturing misses, and tightening prompts, was far more instructive.”
Carolyn Romano (Caitlin Cunningham)
Another participant, Social Work Assistant Professor of the Practice Carolyn Romano, came to the Test Kitchen interested in an AI assistant that could offer meaningful support in her Solution-Focused Therapy course, which is based in simulation techniques, like role-playing, to help social work students practice leading interventions.
While Romano has considered companies that offer simulation training before, most are cost prohibitive. BC’s AI Test Kitchen presented an in-house opportunity to design a simulation completely within parameters and with prompts that Romano got to set herself, all as part of the Google Gemini system, which BC offers to all faculty and staff.
Through the Test Kitchen, Romano started building an AI assistant that acts like a mentor and role-playing partner for her students. Students, role-playing as therapists, first answer some questions about their experience with solutions-based therapy. Then, they ask the AI assistant questions like, “What brings you in today?” ultimately working toward the "Miracle Question"—a solution-focused therapy technique. And like any roleplaying partner, the AI assistant is even trained to stop the simulation if the student misses something, such as not validating the client.
“It was more didactic than I thought,” said Romano, describing the AI assistant, which can interact by texting or talking with students. “I want my students to walk out of the M.S.W. program as good critical thinkers. The Test Kitchen gave me the basics to think about AI in a different way and gave me tangible skills to start playing with.”
Although she hasn’t rolled out the AI assistant for classroom use yet, Romano said that her students have shown enthusiasm for the tool.
“I’m excited by the possibilities,” said Romano. (Read more about how the BC School of Social Work is using AI in teaching, research and clinical training.)
A Community-Oriented Approach
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Scott Cann (Matthew Healey)
Vice President for Information Technology Services Scott Cann noted that the interdisciplinary nature of BC’s approach to AI is critical to the University’s conversation around the technology.
“The collaboration between ITS, CDIL, CTE, and the Campus AI Steering Committee continues to be a very effective approach to guiding the practical and intentional applications of AI in teaching, learning, research, and administration,” said Cann.
There’s no right way to use AI in higher education, which is why this responsive approach works well, said Associate Vice Provost for Digital Learning Brian Salerno.
Brian Salerno (Lee Pellegrini)
Instead, CDIL is creating community and curiosity-centered spaces where faculty can engage and experiment with AI tools in a way that's meaningful to their teaching and disciplines—not just as a technical challenge, but as a design and pedagogical one, grounded in institutional shared values and commitment to student learning.
“We’ve found that BC faculty are best supported when they can situate their thinking in conversation with colleagues, rather than feeling like they have to navigate these powerful and potentially disruptive technologies on their own,” Salerno added.
Sarah Castricum
Additional support for faculty interested in how AI can support their teaching is available through the Center for Teaching Excellence. The CTE begins by helping faculty think about what their goals are for teaching and the best way to get those things done, said Sarah Castricum, CTE associate director for teaching, learning, and technology.
“The stakes around AI, and the challenges it raises to student learning and academic integrity, are huge. So we start with learning. In some cases that means learning about AI tools that can serve students well, and sometimes it’s more about how to protect the spaces where student learning is happening and preclude AI use from them.”
Faculty can access individual consulting at CTE, and the CTE also frequently connects faculty with campus partners such as CDIL and the libraries when questions about specific AI tools or projects arise. Because of AI’s continuous evolution, it can be hard to keep up with what the landscape looks like, added Castricum.
“Being able to collaborate with campus partners is critical to ensuring that we, collectively, bring the best information to campus that we can.”
In March, BC hosted a landmark national conference on AI ethics in Catholic healthcare, organized by a Clough School of Theology and Ministry faculty member, and the Woods College of Advancing Studies held a symposium of prominent business and industry leaders discussing the promise and peril of AI and human-centered approaches to its use.
Informational Technology Services is gearing up to host the second BC Talks AI conference on May 13. With the theme “Innovate with Integrity,” the all-day event for faculty and staff is designed to promote and encourage understanding of AI’s role and to embrace its power and potential on campus. Topics will include teaching, learning, student formation, research, and operational efficiency.
RECAP: Upcoming events
All faculty and staff interested in learning how AI has evolved and how AI can support their work are invited to upcoming University programming around generative artificial intelligence. For more information, visit bc.edu/genai, bc.edu/its, or bc.edu/cdil.
- Lunch & Learn: April 15 at 12 p.m. in Gasson 100.
- AI Learning Exchange: April 10 at 2 p.m. and April 24 at 2 p.m. on Zoom.
- BC Talks AI: May 13 (full day event). Registration open through April 10.
- AI Test Kitchen: May 26, June 4, June 11; August 6, August 13, August 20; December 3, December 10, December 17.