Introduction to AI

At a glance

Explore why artificial intelligence and generative AI matter for teaching and learning at Monash, and understand the broad context in which these technologies are reshaping higher education. Identify key considerations for engaging with AI responsibly, including where it can be used in education and what educators and students need to develop to work effectively alongside it.

Jump to these sections:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents a broad range of technologies, approaches and tools within which the growth of widely-available Generative AI (GenAI) is a recent development. The guidance provided here refers to both the larger umbrella category AI and the specific variations of GenAI that are enabling the automated rapid production of texts, images, sounds, videos, etc.

From the introduction of computers and AI (c.1950) to the internet (c.1983) to smartphones (c.2007) to Generative AI exemplified by the release of ChatGPT3.5 (c.2022), technology continues to evolve. This has implications for how we live, work and study. The recent emergence of widely-available Generative AI technologies and the integration of Large Learning Models (LLM) and chatbot assistants into our tools and practices are already shaping directions in higher education.

“Learning how to use AI technologies appropriately is rapidly becoming necessary for academic practice and career success. Many students will increasingly be expected to use AI to generate content in their professions. It is crucial that their university education plays a role in developing their critical thinking and reflective skills around the evaluation of a range of sources including AI-generated material, as well as developing students’ comfort and confidence in using and applying AI in collaborative production of assessment.”

(Monash Task Force on Generative Artificial Intelligence: Education Working Group Report 2023 p17)

Preparing students and staff for a changing world

Amongst rapidly changing technologies and practices, students and staff need to:

  • Continue to learn to think for themselves, and to learn to think and work with AI.
  • Prepare to coordinate diverse human and artificial intelligences.
  • Develop expertise to make informed decisions and address complex contemporary issues.
  • Develop abilities to critically evaluate information and situations.
  • Maintain curiosity along the journey of lifelong learning, while experimenting with and imagining alternative possibilities for learning.
  • Build capacity to adapt to dynamic circumstances.
  • Cultivate human capacities and capabilities.

Why engage with emerging technologies?

  • Supporting “future readiness” for professional and disciplinary pursuits.
  • Expanding possibilities for our disciplines, professions and practices.
  • Developing responsible use of emerging technologies and AI literacies.
  • Building “21st Century skills” including: collaboration, critical thinking, learning to learn and resilience.
  • Gaining efficiencies in learning and teaching.

How can emerging technologies be used?

  • Exploring efficiencies and creative possibilities in learning and teaching.
  • Students learning with and about AI.
  • Educators teaching with and about AI.
  • Educators assessing with AI while leveraging AI efficiencies and data analytics.
  • Working together:
    • Through human and AI collaborations
    • Through educators and students co-designing, experimenting, evaluating and sharing
    • Through provision of general resources and development of discipline specific directions and resources
    • Through connected communities of practice across the University and the world

Where can AI be used in education in Monash?

AI can be used in a broad range of circumstances and contexts relating to learning, teaching and assessment. Educators should consider:

  • How the use of AI enables students to achieve and demonstrate the learning outcomes for a unit.
  • Where in the learning process AI can productively assist and prepare students to develop the knowledge and skills that are important for current and future professions.

Key considerations

AI presents opportunities and challenges for educators. As we progress AI integration across a range of learning processes and scenarios, it is important to reflect on how we:

  • use technologies responsibly and ethically including recognising and mitigating biases, data and privacy risks
  • critically evaluate AI outcomes and incorporate outputs
  • collaborate with AI and maintain human accountability
  • operate across the spectrum of knowledge production from individual humans demonstrating their performance to productive collaborations of multiple humans and AIs
  • celebrate and advance human capacities/capabilities
  • remain open to experimentation and change within dynamic technological contexts

Many of these considerations are explored within the following pages.

Explore Teaching about and teaching with AI for more information and guidance for educators about responsible teaching, learning and assessment.

Note: The resources in this portion of the Monash website have been produced by multiple, primarily, human intelligences working to make the University’s current approaches to AI intelligible and clear.