Preparing Students for the Rapidly Changing, Generative AI–assisted Workplace through Survey-informed Dialogue

Abstract

Over the past few years, generative AI has had an increasing impact on society, including an impact on how people learn and work. As a part of preparing students, at AP and bachelor levels, for the generative AI–assisted workplace, small-scale surveys were conducted and subsequently used as parts of task descriptions and structured dialogue with the students. Findings suggest that students see generative AI as a useful tool in their education. However, dialogue with students also indicates a need for further guidance on how to use generative AI in learning processes. Just as more guidance is needed to develop insights into generative AIs understanding of key concepts like relevance, as well as limitations to generative AIs ability to be helpful in more complicated workflows in the workplace. This said, exact answers from surveys are probably less important than using the questions to spark dialogue with students about the assumptions, biases, and implications of using generative AI in education and in the workplace. Any final conclusions at this stage would likely be premature anyway. However, the dialogue with students about generative AI’s role in education and in the workplace is seen as essential to question, analyze, understand, and set future directions.