AI in higher education is useful, but it cannot be completely trusted
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool in higher education, and students expect their professors to have a certain degree of knowledge in this field, to be transparent and to tell them why and how they use it, emphasized the students within the framework of the research conducted on the topic "Ethical use of artificial intelligence: Who is in control – humans or algorithms?” which was held at the Inox Innovation Center in Skopje.
Aleksandar Nikolovski, the chairman of the National Student Body, emphasized that the purpose of the event is to raise awareness of the use of AI in higher education and for the first time for students to send recommendations to the competent institutions for better use of AI.
Jovana Dobreva, FINKI assistant at UKIM, pointed out that it is necessary to limit the generative artificial intelligence.
– Today we see generative AI everywhere, like ChatGPT, but no one gives the certainty that we have something that is really true. It gets to the point of hallucination where it can go into racist, political and nationalist parts that are not supported. That legal part and ethics, the European Union takes as AI acts, where we have to give a limit to the generative artificial intelligence, i.e. let's direct it to be only in assistive technology, i.e. technology that will be able to replace humans throughout the generations, says Dobreva.
The chatbots in use now have at their disposal all the information that is available on the internet, but the pitfall with artificial intelligence is that users can never be sure that it is 100 percent accurate or that the data is relevant.
- All that must be checked later. They are not yet developed enough to be fully trusted. Such a model has not yet been made with 100 percent accuracy. That is why man can never be changed. Creativity, ideas, come only from man, everything else is just taken out and changed with multiple permutations, stressed Dobreva.
The Minister of Digital Transformation, Stefan Andonovski, indicated that this will have to be worked on constantly.
- This will not be a once-and-for-all solution, we will have to constantly develop policies and ways of using artificial intelligence in the operation of the state administration, but also in the operation of society and prevention, overcoming and improvement of situations. Prevention of some unwanted events that may happen, abuses that may mean a violation of national interests, said the minister.
He added that within the national ICT strategy that is currently being prepared, an entire pillar is dedicated to innovation, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.
- I hope that in this way we will be able to draw the path with the action plan and the strategy, which will be the steps that the government will take in the direction of the ethical embodiment of AI and its use in public administration, added the minister.
The event is organized by the German Friedrich Naumann Freedom Foundation (FNF), the Institute for Good Governance and Euro-Atlantic Perspectives (IDUEP) and the National Student Body (NST). This event brings together university representatives, policy makers and students for discussion and workshops on the ethical challenges and opportunities that AI brings to higher education.
