Further Down the AI Rabbit Hole

As we established yesterday, the potential for new AI technologies to significantly influence a host of spaces is less theory and more a foregone conclusion. It's only a matter of time before jobs are replaced (many already have been) and our notions of creativity are forever shifted. Educators will be wrestling with the implications of these AI technologies for years to come. With any luck, it will lead to some important pedagogical innovations and serve to democratize learning to an even further degree than technology has already done. At the very least, young people today may not be forced to regurgitate as many lifeless essays summarizing material they've read as a mis-placed marker of learning.

Once we start moving beyond these simple tasks and one off assignments, however, I would venture to guess that things will get even more complicated. It's one thing to write a diversity mission statement, or even a simple news report. When we start delving into the waters of more significant policy, things could get more troubling. Right now, legislators are focusing their attention on regulating artificial intelligence, presumably in an attempt to avoid a Cyberdyne Systems scenario. They may, for the most part, have no idea how it works or what it's currently capable of, but they at least recognize the potential risks. What happens when AI starts writing legislation and other social policy?

DEI-related policies, plans, and curricula are currently under fire in states across the nation as politicians seek to limit or eliminate any realistic discussion of system oppression and its implications. These restrictions will no doubt have an impact on the content AI generates as it pulls from available information. These attacks also mean more educational institutions and other organizations are more likely to look for more neutral language that doesn't draw the attention of headline hungry politicians. Will our DEI policies and strategic plans be written by AI in the future? Are they already being written by AI?

I asked Bard to create a social justice strategic plan for a public Land Grant university in Delaware. This was Bard's response. Does it sound familiar? Do you see echo's of it in your own organization's strategic plan?

Social Justice Strategic Plan for a Public Land Grant University in Delaware Introduction

The University of Delaware is a public land-grant university committed to providing access to higher education and a transformative learning experience for all students. We believe that a diverse and inclusive campus community is essential to our mission of teaching, research, and service. We are committed to creating a campus where all students, faculty, and staff feel welcome, valued, and respected.

Social justice is a core value of the University of Delaware. We believe that all people are entitled to equal rights and opportunities, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or socioeconomic status. We are committed to creating a campus community where all members can thrive and reach their full potential.

This social justice strategic plan outlines our commitment to social justice and our goals for creating a more just and equitable campus community. The plan is based on the following principles:

• Diversity and inclusion are essential to our mission of teaching, research, and service.
• All members of our community deserve to feel welcome, valued, and respected.
• We are committed to creating a campus community where all members can thrive and reach their full potential.
• We will work to address the root causes of social injustice, both on our campus and in the broader community.

Goals

Our goals for social justice are to:

• Increase the diversity of our student body, faculty, and staff.
• Provide support and resources for students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds.
• Engage in community outreach and partnerships to promote social justice in our region.
• Evaluate our progress on a regular basis and make adjustments as needed.

Strategies

To achieve our goals, we will implement the following strategies:

• Increase the number of scholarships and financial aid awards for students from diverse backgrounds.
• Hire more faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds.
• Provide training on diversity and inclusion for all faculty, staff, and students.
• Create a diversity and inclusion council to advise the university on social justice issues.
• Engage in community outreach and partnerships to promote social justice in our region.
• Evaluate our progress on a regular basis and make adjustments as needed.

Timeline

We will implement this social justice strategic plan over the next five years. We will evaluate our progress on a regular basis and make adjustments as needed.

Evaluation

We will evaluate our progress on this social justice strategic plan on a regular basis. We will use the following metrics to measure our progress:

• The number of students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds.
• The number of diversity and inclusion training programs offered.
• The number of community outreach and partnerships.
• The level of satisfaction with our progress among students, faculty, and staff.

We will use the results of our evaluations to make adjustments to our strategic plan as needed.

Conclusion

We are committed to creating a more just and equitable campus community. This social justice strategic plan outlines our goals for achieving this goal. We believe that these goals are ambitious, but we are confident that we can achieve them with the support of our community.