Rutgers Camden’s New AI Campus
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On Wednesday, February 18th, Rutgers-Camden launched the “AI Campus” program. It is overseen by Vice Chancellor for Research, Thomas S. Risch and Senior Program Coordinator, Ojobo Agbo Eje. It will allow students to research and develop AI software to be used for various projects. Opinions amongst Rutgers students are mixed, with some expressing weariness towards the impact that a program like this might have.
The AI Campus at Rutgers-Camden is a part of a larger initiative called the “National AI Campus”. According to their official website, the AI Campus movement is built around “project-based-learning.” Some of the specific applications that they focus on are, “biomedical imaging, natural language processing, genomics, self-driving cars, etc.”
Thomas Risch explained that this model has been particularly successful in many California state universities such as CASU Dominguez Hills. He expressed the desire for the Rutgers–Camden branch to meet the rising standards of the National model. He said, “One of our big, overreaching goals with the AI Campus is to make sure South Jersey is ready for an AI workforce.”
Risch also mentioned that some of the events may include topical conversations such as ethics or psychological effects of AI. He later noted that concerns around these topics and the development of Artificial Intelligence are valid. However, he believes that AI is a powerful tool for research.
Both Thomas Risch and Ojobo Agbe Eje agreed that AI can’t be avoided. Eje, who is in charge of managing the infrastructure and process of the program, was especially interested in working with that inevitability. He wants to cultivate a cooperative learning environment so that people can equip themselves with the ability to adapt to the ever changing technological world.
He had these words to say on the matter: “As an institution that seeks to prepare people for what the future is, we cannot hide under the rock. The overall goal of the AI Campus is to make sure that our people–faculty, staff, students–are up to speed and comfortable with AI.” Eje feels strongly about bridging the gap between unrestrained AI adoption and the complete rejection of its positive benefits.
Wayne Reynolds is a grad student in the Emerging Media program with the goal of becoming a screenwriter. He considers AI to be a detriment in his field, as many companies are prioritizing generative software over original work from creatives. He is worried about the lack of regulations and how that may affect writers and artists.
Reynolds is skeptical about the decision to incorporate AI based research into Rutgers–Camden. Although he isn’t fond of AI integration, he offered his perspective on how Rutgers can encourage ethical research: “There needs to be an emphasis on assisting students, not merely doing the work for them.” He also believes that artificially generated content should be prohibited.
Erin Gallagher, a math major with minors in education and statistics, feels more cautiously optimistic. She believes Rutgers is at least making an effort to utilize AI in ethical ways. Gallagher acknowledged it can be useful in certain situations, noting the creation of assignments by professors and fellow students who use AI software to practice math problems. On the flipside, she questioned if it could be diminishing the need to learn mathematics.
In general, Gallagher expressed how she’s anxious about how society will be changed by AI over time, “Looking to the future, it’s a little scary. Like, where are we gonna end up? Are we gonna devolve or evolve? Overall, I guess we’re just gonna kind of go in with fingers crossed and hopefully we’re all gonna be okay.”
In short, AI Campus administrators claim to be mindful about the potential dangers of AI, while also remaining dedicated to advancing its capabilities. They want to provide Rutgers-Camden students the means to be able to explore this rapidly changing technology on their own. Some of those students are still apprehensive about the program; others are open to it, so long as ethics are being carefully considered.
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