There’s a special energy on campus at the start of a new academic year. The air is crackling with excitement and a spirit of possibility.
We hold several events to kick off the year, including our wildly popular Downtown Campus Block Party, and it’s been a pleasure to meet and speak with new and returning undergrads. Each of them has a unique story featuring healthy portions of hope and ambition, sometimes with a bit of trepidation. Almost always, their stories come with a sense of pride and a sense of duty to live up to expectations – their own, and those of others.
Upon sharing their plans for post-secondary education, most undergraduates will hear the comment at least once: “Wow, you must be really smart.” It’s usually referring to the student’s academic success. After all, they’ve had to put in the studying, earn the grades and compete for admission in a post-secondary program. It’s a line that implicitly conveys,“That’s impressive, we expect to see great things from you.”
But that word, “smart”, is one whose meaning is shifting. You’re probably familiar with the old dichotomy that gets thrown around about being “book smart” versus “street smart”, as though people fall into one category or the other. We know it’s not so simple these days. There are plenty of different ways people can exhibit smarts: demonstrating common sense, having lived experience, being formally educated, showing emotional intelligence, to name a few. Each of us can have ample amounts of some, and varying amounts of others. People are complex.
Yet a new question is now getting raised: in an age when technology makes knowledge readily available and accessible, what does it mean to be smart? What makes an undergraduate education at a post-secondary institution so special? After all, anyone can discover almost anything over the internet – especially with the rise of AI tools.
It’s a fair bet that practically every single one of our new MacEwan undergraduates has interacted with some kind of AI tool. These tools have become ubiquitous very quickly. But as we’re rapidly learning, the strength of these tools is closely related to the strength of their users. Truly making the most of them requires us to make the most of ourselves, across many dimensions.
Employing critical thinking, for example. Sure, an AI model can generate an answer to a question or scenario that you enter. But does the model’s response make sense? How decent were the inputs? Were the content and structure of high calibre? As has always been the case with experiments and research, the quality of what you get out depends on the quality of what you put in.
Logical and analytical reasoning is another critical dimension. You generated a response from an AI model and it seems legit. Great. What’s the significance? Where does the answer lead you in your investigative path? What makes sense to test and explore next? Are there patterns emerging? Are there outliers that need to be reconciled? The journey of learning is not simply a bunch of answers to a bunch of questions, but discovering and understanding how they are all linked.
After years of experience with social media, we’ve seen how algorithms can push people into polarized echo chambers. Against that backdrop, self-awareness and discernment are crucial, and no less so with AI. We’ve learned that AI models sometimes like to flatter us, or reaffirm what we already believe. Growth and development requires us to stretch and challenge ourselves, including what we’ve heard, read and written. That comes from introspection and self-reflection, about who we are today and who we wish to become.
And without question, we need curiosity. AI models and other technologies can help us uncover facts, discover patterns, and learn about the world, but we need to have the interest in doing so. A powerful aspect of AI is that it enables us to dive into topics deeply. With the right queries, we can explore the contours of almost any subject. That takes the courage and the ambition to be inquisitive. Being a passive grey rock won’t cut it.
These dimensions of ‘smart’ – critical thinking, reasoning, discernment, curiosity – are what modern universities, including ours, seek to build and nurture in our undergraduates. They lie at the core of what higher learning is about, and are infused into any program an undergraduate pursues. Ultimately, they’ve what makes the difference between being an armchair expert versus having true expertise.
This is top of mind at MacEwan as we commence the academic year. We’re continually exploring how to best integrate AI so that we leverage its power in ways that augment the journey of higher learning. This means helping our undergraduates recognize and use AI models as partners in their thinking, not replacements for it.
Because no matter how you choose to define the word, being “smart” involves thinking.
If you’re new to MacEwan University, welcome! If you’re returning, welcome back. We’re excited for the year ahead, and it’s a privilege to have you with us.
Dr. Annette Trimbee
President and Vice-Chancellor