Under the title, “ChatGPT in Practice: Unlocking Opportunities and Tackling Challenges in our Professions,” a session organized by Notre Dame University-Louaize’s (NDU) Institute for Internet and Technology Addiction (INTA), instructors from the NDU’s Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLPS), Faculty of Humanities (FH), as well as Faculty of Business Administration and Economics (FBAE), discussed the pros and cons of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education. Moderating the event was Dr. Nazir Hawi, Chair of INTA and Professor at the Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences (FNAS).
FLPS Professor Eugene Sensenig, FH Professor Christine Sabieh, and FBAE Assistant Professor Marwan Azouri each presented their arguments on whether AI is a viable threat to their fields, an asset, or a neutral presence dependent on individual use. The three speakers agreed that although AI, and ChatGPT in particular, has so far been a point of contention, their experience with these new digital tools has been largely positive.
Building on Elinor Ostrom’s Governing the Commons (1990) and Knowledge Commons (2007), Sensenig argued that AI follows a similar trajectory as that of other online technologies. He drew from his 20 years of experience in the field of Creative Commons (CC) and Open Educational Resources (OER) at NDU, reflecting on Ostrom’s commentary on the tragedy of creative commons in the Global South. Activist scholars in the fields of education and communication in Lebanon have championed open access to digital information, while simultaneously combating intellectual and creative fraud in a culture of impunity. In light of Ostrom’s claim, Sensenig argued that, ultimately, the artificial intelligence revolution is daunting, but not unique. Instead, AI can actually help combat the aforementioned tragedy of the creative or knowledge commons and promote good governance in the Global South. Sensenig gave examples from the work of both the FLPS and the Lebanese Research Center for Migration and Diaspora Studies (LERC), of which he is the director, to illustrate such implementation.
Sabieh, the next speaker, gave her presentation titled, “ChatGPT: Its Impact,” acknowledging that technology for decades has enriched teaching and learning spaces. The main question she sought to address is if an artificial intelligence chatbot, namely OpenAI’s ChatGPT, would not follow suit. Sabieh explored both the negative and positive implications of ChatGPT in an educational setting accordingly. She conceded that the bot will likely hinder students’ learning, but argued that it also held an underestimated advantage in promoting students’ critical thinking skills. Educators, as a result, can adopt ChatGPT and potential derivatives within their curricula as enhancement tools rather than resorting to an anti-tech stance.
Offering a perspective on the marketing industry, Azouri explained that ChatGPT is becoming an increasingly powerful instrument for marketers, helping to automate and personalize various aspects of the field. Its ability to analyze data and generate personalized content, Azouri argued, can lead to more targeted and therefore effective marketing campaigns, citing the examples of Microsoft and soft drink companies already leveraging ChatGPT in their strategies. However, Azouri contended that ChatGPT is not a complete replacement for human expertise, given that its outputs should be carefully reviewed for accuracy and relevance. Moreover, users have to be careful of the potential cons of using ChatGPT in marketing, such as its margin of error. Overall, Azouri suggested that marketing and ChatGPT will continue to converge in the future, thereby revolutionizing how businesses communicate with their customers and promote their products or services.