President Tim Sands to host talk with Northeastern University president on AI, future of higher ed
From engineers, to artists, scientists, and musicians, artificial intelligence (AI) has a presence in every industry, inspiring both excitement and anxiety. How are universities preparing students to enter this AI world?
Join President Tim Sands as he discusses this question and others with Northeastern University’s President Joseph E. Aoun, who wrote the book on the subject.
The public event, a part of the Presidential Speaker Series, will be on Thursday, Nov. 21, from 1:15-2:15p.m. in Commonwealth Ballroom of Squires Student Center.
No registration is required, and those who wish to attend remotely can do so through the Presidential Speaker Series webpage.
A future-focused education
Aoun is the author "Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," published originally in 2017. In the book’s recent second edition, he expands on his initial blueprint for colleges and universities to meet the challenges and opportunities associated with the transformative effects of AI.
“Students are now entering a workforce where AI is assisting or assuming some traditional work streams,” Sands said. “We need to not only teach students how to navigate their evolving fields, but also keep the conversation around AI human-centered. President Aoun has proved himself very knowledgeable in this regard.”
Sands and Aoun plan to discuss some of the ways both universities are working to provide future-focused opportunities for students and how these opportunities can be distributed across campuses on a state, national, and global scale.
During his tenure, Aoun has led the global expansion of Northeastern University’s signature co-op program and has created a global university system spanning 13 campuses across North America and the United Kingdom.
“As we establish our presence in Alexandria and act on our Beyond Boundaries vision, it will be more important than ever to learn from the successes of universities like Northeastern in how we connect people and research across distributed campuses,” Sands said.
