Addressing AI head-on with Professor Howard Rosenbaum

Addressing AI head-on with Professor Howard Rosenbaum

By Maggie McDonald

Professor Howard Rosenbaum is focused on the future of information professions in his Introduction to Information Science (ILS-Z 510) course. 

Rosenbaum—who counts Director of Graduate Programs and the Master of Information Science (MIS), MIS Program Director, and Professor of Information Science among his titles at Luddy—found himself reckoning with the rise of ChatGPT and other large language models starting this past spring. In a meeting with fellow faculty members, the use of these large language models by students was a pressing topic. Would they become instruments of academic dishonesty? Would students simply ask ChatGPT to write their assignments for them and cease performing their own research? 

Rosenbaum decided that, rather than fighting against the shiny new toy, he would incorporate ChatGPT directly into his syllabus—alongside a responsible use statement, naturally. Students are only allowed to use GPT as a tool on specific assignments, and they’re required to cite it as a source. Rosenbaum says his syllabus encourages students to confront the implications and challenges associated with ChatGPT and artificial intelligence, including their built-in bias and limitations and personal data rights. 

In fact, one of Rosenbaum’s assignments actually asks the students to use ChatGPT. They’re given a list of several ethical information technology challenges, one of which they must feed into ChatGPT. Then, they take GPT’s response and analyze and fact check it.  

Rosenbaum’s goal is to leave students with a good idea of the kinds of tools—and ethical challenges—they’ll continue to face as they work through their degree programs and move into their careers as information professionals.