The University of Michigan is taking a proactive approach to integrating artificial intelligence into the classroom rather than pushing against it. U-M is one of the first major universities in the nation to create its own artificial intelligence tools: U-M GPT, Maizey and the AI toolkit.

U-M School of Information associate professor David Jurgens says the goal of these tools, as well as his course Using AI Effectively is to help students engage with these technologies in “productive and collaborative ways without losing critical thinking skills.”

“We teach students different ways to use AI tools to create better versions of themselves but not to replace themselves with AI,” Jurgens says. “I tell students to think about ChatGPT as a teaching assistant who is awake any hour of the day and can provide you with feedback and guidance.”

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Listen to “University of Michigan creates AI tools for campus, students” on PBS. 

David Jurgens is an expert on natural language processing, artificial intelligence and data science. Learn more about hims by visiting his UMSI faculty profile.