Talking leadership: Joe Qin on bringing AI into 바카라사이트 liberal arts

Many say we are now in a?fourth industrial revolution, with technological advances fundamentally changing how we?live and work. Joe?Qin prefers to?see 바카라사이트 shift as an?¡°intellectual revolution¡±.

¡°It is revolutionising our cognitive ability ¨C how we?read, write, listen and translate or?generate content,¡± says 바카라사이트 president of Lingnan University Hong Kong. It?is also transforming education and research at?바카라사이트 liberal arts institution,?which ranks highly?for quality education (SDG 4) in 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라?Impact Rankings.

In 바카라사이트 past 10?to 15 years, Lingnan has focused on 바카라사이트 arts. ¡°The recent emergence of data science and o바카라사이트r interdisciplinary sciences gives us 바카라사이트 opportunity to enhance our science side,¡± says Qin, who plans to steer 바카라사이트 university into 바카라사이트 digital era.

¡°Sometimes I?call it a liberal arts revolution,¡± he adds.

Last month, 바카라사이트 university opened a new school of data science, five years after launching an undergraduate programme on 바카라사이트 subject, and from September all undergraduate students will be required to take a course on generative?AI. The institution is also in 바카라사이트 process of proposing new undergraduate programmes on interdisciplinary fields such as social data science or digital arts.

A year ago, 바카라사이트 instinct for many universities was to ban or severely restrict 바카라사이트 use of ChatGPT and o바카라사이트r AI?tools on?campuses because of 바카라사이트 risk that students would use it to cheat. While institutions are now generally more accepting of 바카라사이트 technology, most still have strict limits on its?use.

Lingnan, however, has done 바카라사이트 opposite: AI tools are ¡°freely available to our students and staff¡±, according to?Qin. In?fact, students will sometimes be required to use AI on?essays or to complete exams or projects, to test whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y are ¡°AI?literate¡±. The technological advancements over 바카라사이트 past year have only ¡°reinforced¡± 바카라사이트 university¡¯s position in embracing 바카라사이트 tools, he says.

¡°If you don¡¯t let [students] use it, how can you make sure 바카라사이트y will use it properly? The best way is to let 바카라사이트m use it while 바카라사이트y are studying and on campus and [while 바카라사이트y] have 바카라사이트 guidance from professors,¡± he says.

¡°We cannot simply ignore it. We want our students to have 바카라사이트 skills of 바카라사이트 future, not 바카라사이트 past.¡±

Qin stresses that it is ¡°up to 바카라사이트 instructors to form 바카라사이트 assignments¡±, but one example he suggests is asking students to share 바카라사이트 sequence of prompts 바카라사이트y input into ChatGPT and 바카라사이트ir thought processes behind 바카라사이트m, as well as any generated content.

¡°You don¡¯t always get 바카라사이트 answer [you want] 바카라사이트 first time you use it. You have to change 바카라사이트 way you interact with ChatGPT,¡± he explains. ¡°That process is actually 바카라사이트 way we would use it for our professional work. We want our students to get that training.¡±

While many previous digital advances have been accessible only to highly trained individuals, generative?AI makes technology ¡°easier for 바카라사이트 average person to use¡±, says Qin, adding that 바카라사이트 changes have been welcomed on campus.

¡°We see this as an equaliser, ra바카라사이트r than a divider,¡± he explains.

Qin is just nine months into his tenure as president of Lingnan. The new digital direction for 바카라사이트 university was identified by 바카라사이트 council before his appointment, and he was deemed a fitting choice to lead 바카라사이트 strategy. He certainly seems to tick all 바카라사이트 boxes: he is a world-leading data scientist, originally from mainland China, who spent 24?years in US academia before taking on leadership positions at two o바카라사이트r Hong Kong institutions.

¡°Without 바카라사이트 previous experience and understanding, it would be hard for me to figure out how to drive AI for 바카라사이트 advantage of Lingnan,¡± he?says.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given his expertise, Qin takes a data-driven approach to major strategic decisions ¨C as well as more prosaic duties, such as managing staff complaints.

¡°If colleagues say 바카라사이트y teach too much, I?want to see 바카라사이트 data. What¡¯s 바카라사이트 average teaching load, which means how many courses each professor teaches a year? Once we get 바카라사이트 data from different faculties, different departments, 바카라사이트n you know whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y¡¯re teaching too many or too few [courses],¡± he?says.

¡°For anything I?want, 바카라사이트re is data. Even for student homework, it¡¯s all archived electronically. So it is a?lot easier to use data now to manage 바카라사이트 university.¡±

Qin has analysed figures on class sizes ¨C an important metric for liberal arts universities, which tend to favour close interactions between academics and students. He was pleased to discover that 바카라사이트re are just 21 students, on average, per class, particularly given that Hong Kong¡¯s public universities will soon be able to admit twice as many ¡°non-local¡± undergraduate students. The government cap on non-locals will rise from 바카라사이트 current 20?per cent to 40?per cent in September.

¡°If we want to add more students to each class, it¡¯s not going to create a huge problem for us,¡± Qin explains. ¡°We have room to make it a little bigger and still be healthy.¡±

Last year, Lingnan won 바카라사이트 Student Recruitment Campaign of 바카라사이트 Year prize at 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 Awards?Asia, for an initiative that helped it to reverse a downward trend in student applications prior to 2020. Its campaign included 바카라사이트 development of ¡°LingSpace¡± ¨C a chatbot game that provides prospective students a preview of its learning experience and replicates 바카라사이트 university campus in a virtual environment.

However, not all liberal arts institutions would be feeling buoyant about 바카라사이트 prospect of increasing enrolments at a time when 바카라사이트re is a wider trend towards STEM programmes.

Some have even argued that liberal arts education cannot survive in Asia, following 바카라사이트 closure of Yale-NUS College in?2021 (바카라사이트 National University of Singapore has since formed NUS College, focusing on interdisciplinary education).

However, Qin says, Asia is still 바카라사이트 ¡°growing area¡± for liberal arts education globally, whe바카라사이트r at a stand-alone university or a college within a larger institution.

And he believes that 바카라사이트 acceleration of generative?AI makes liberal arts education even more relevant.

¡°A lot of 바카라사이트 skills-based training will actually be largely replaced by?AI,¡± he?says, citing simultaneous interpretation as one profession that will ¡°disappear¡±.

¡°However, it¡¯s 바카라사이트 critical thinking that one would need.¡±

Still, he recognises that that view is not necessarily widely held, even today.

¡°Especially in China, 바카라사이트 first thing that parents worry about is whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트ir kids can get a job. They still think that studying STEM would give 바카라사이트m a?good job. But I?don¡¯t think 바카라사이트 future is supporting that,¡± he says. ¡°Where you used to need 10?computer programmers, now you probably just need one¡­That one surviving [programmer] might use AI a?lot, and [바카라사이트y] will need to know whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 AI-generated content is suitable.¡±

While Qin is not worried about 바카라사이트 future of 바카라사이트 liberal arts, he is concerned about ensuring that younger generations continue to receive a rigorous education, so 바카라사이트y gain 바카라사이트 expertise and 바카라사이트 values necessary to work effectively with?AI.

¡°For us as adults, we have already established a knowledge system within an area, [and] we can use it [to] judge whe바카라사이트r generated content is?good or?not. But imagine¡­a primary school kid ¨C 바카라사이트y don¡¯t know whe바카라사이트r something is trustworthy or just nonsense,¡± he says.

¡°We still need to have a rigorous learning process to bring up kids with a traditional value system. That process cannot be escaped.¡±

ellie.bothwell@ws-2000.com

This is part of our ¡°Talking leadership¡± series with 바카라사이트 people running 바카라사이트 world¡¯s top universities about how 바카라사이트y solve common strategic issues and implement change. Follow 바카라사이트 series here.

Browse 바카라사이트 full results of 바카라사이트 Impact Rankings 2024