Navigating AI at MIT
As artificial intelligence changes how we teach, learn, and do research, we’re exploring best practices—and working to ensure that students leave the Institute prepared to succeed in an AI-powered world.
A graduating senior recently observed that because of the rampant growth of generative AI, he doesn’t recognize the way today’s first-years are experiencing MIT; like the rest of society, all of us at the Institute are riding the rocket of AI change while trying to influence its destination.
Already, instructors across MIT are having to change how they shape assignments and assess student effort and mastery. Students are changing how they study and learn. And lab teams are finding powerful new ways to design experiments and advance their research. (See “AI at MIT.”) There’s real optimism about potential gains—and serious concern about what may be lost.
As I write, our new Ad Hoc Committee on AI Use in Teaching, Learning, and Research Training is engaging broadly with the community to understand how instructors and students are using AI now, and to identify promising innovations and best practices that MIT and peer schools have developed for teaching and student assessment. The committee has also been charged with proposing an AI use policy, though given the pace of change, it’s probably best to expect a flexible set of principles and guidelines that can apply as the technology evolves.
Not surprisingly, our students are telling us how vital they believe AI will be for their careers. Launched in fall 2022, AI and Decision Making (6-4) is already the second-most-popular major at MIT—and it’s still growing. Designed for those who want to become expert in AI and its application, the major aims to help students gain a fundamental understanding of how the technology works, so they can adapt as fast as the frontier changes. But frankly, all our students need to leave MIT armed with a core understanding of how to employ AI effectively, no matter what their field.
Our bigger goal: To equip our students with the technical mastery to succeed in an AI-powered world, and with an understanding of the larger human questions involved, so they can be wise, grounded leaders within it. Stay tuned for more!
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