An important skill for members of society to learn and build is the ability to communicate effectively, respectfully and being open to new perspectives and ideas. On Oct. 21, Professor of Communication and Media, Adam Gaffey, hosted an event with his Communication and Civic Dialogue class to provide a space for Winona State University Students to practice expressing and receiving ideas in a discussion surrounding the place for Artificial Intelligence (AI) within a college setting.
Students who participated also earned co-curricular transcript credits, which helps to showcase “soft-skills” that they have built throughout their education at Winona State.
The event began by categorizing participants into three groups: Those who agree that AI is beneficial for university students, those who disagreed and those who remained neutral or undecided on the topic. Participants were then sorted to tables with others of varying perspectives, and a Communication and Civic Dialogue student to facilitate the discussion.
Facilitating students were given a real-life opportunity to practice skills they had learned in class to engage in dialogue.
“Part of what they were doing tonight is helping other people understand the reasons why they might take a position through asking questions, and then to try to connect people who think differently and find some agreement across those differences,” Gaffey said.
Those who participated in the conversation were placed in an environment in which different beliefs and thought processes were presented in a peaceful manner. “I think that the diversity of viewpoint is really important,” Gaffey said. “To know how other people think is a healthy practice for everything, but it is particularly healthy for democracy, and just for getting along with people who might see the world differently than we do.”
The conversation revolved around the relationship that students and schools have with AI and whether it was ethical to use or encourage the use of AI on assignments, when writing emails or using it in general. Gaffey’s class had been working a lot with the topic of technology, making this a favorable topic to choose for the presentation.
“AI is having a big impact on how people think about the future. And there is a lot of uncertainty about what those impacts look like. So I thought this was a good topic for us to explore before people had kind of made their minds up about it.” Gaffey said.
Communications Studies Professor Ahmet Aksoy felt that the topic was extremely important to be discussed and had encouraged many of his own students to attend and broaden their thoughts surrounding modern technology.
“Students need to be equipped with not only just the knowledge of the tool, because I argue that with social media and AI, individuals and generations say that they can use it, but they are more consumers of it. It’s where the instructors or the equipped faculty help educate them to utilize these tools to the full capacity that they can be used, but realize the role that they have in it,” Aksoy said.
Both professors agree that as a society, we have become too comfortable sitting within our own bubble of thoughts and ideologies, that we have stopped making the time to hold conversations with other people, especially those who think differently from us. It is why events like these are important for college students, to provide a space to practice holding more philosophical dialogue and feel safe and comfortable expressing their thoughts and feelings.
“One thing that I learned from [this event] is the fascination and the true interest of students coming together to be able to sit no matter their philosophical views of it, or thoughts, and be able to have a conversation,” Aksoy noted.
At the end of the event, participants reflected on their initial stance, and even if their general position did not change, they were able to recognize points on the matter that they now had an open mind towards. For example, one student who had claimed a neutral standpoint, found themselves more approving of agentic AI than generative AI.
“A key takeaway is that we can teach each other things that expand our perspectives, and in that process, we can get to know other perspectives better,” Gaffey said. “Even if we end up advocating for a position that we really strongly believe in, we at least have the benefit of knowing why somebody who disagrees with us thinks the way that they do, rather than looking at them as less than a person or distancing ourselves from them. We can see the humanity behind those positions.”
