FOR YOUR EXPERTISE.

>> THANK YOU.

>> THE EXPLOSION OF MAINSTREAM USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS HAS LED TO THE VERY DEVELOPERS OF THIS TECHNOLOGY WARNING OF ITS DANGERS, INCLUDING EXTINCTION, BUT THEIR EXTENSIVE EVERYDAY USE IS HERE TO STAY.

WE TURN TO LOIS BROOKS, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER AND VICE PROVOST FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT UW MADISON, AND THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US.

>> THANK YOU FOR INVITING ME.

>> SO IT'S NOT ONLY A.I., BUT GENERATIVE A.I., WHICH CAN GENERATE TEXT OR IMAGES THAT HAS REALLY EXPLODED INTO THE MAINSTREAM.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE MASS USE OF THIS GENERATIVE A.I.

THAT'S BEEN A GAME-CHANGER?

>> SO A.I.

HAS BEEN PRESENT FOR QUITE A LONG TIME, AND YOU'VE PROBABLY INTERACTING WITH IT THROUGH THINGS LIKE CHAT BOX OR FINDINGS THE BEST TRAVEL FARES.

WHAT HAPPENED WITH GENERATIVE A.I.

IS TOOLS LIKE CHAT GPT MADE IT ACCESSIBLE TO ANYONE TO BEGIN TO GENERATE CONTENT, SO YOU CAN GO GENERATE A REPORT OR THE DRAFT OF AN EMAIL OR AN IMAGE OR VIDEO YOURSELF, AND SO WE'VE SEEN THIS EXPLOSION IN CREATIVITY WITH PEOPLE CREATING SONGS AND POETRY AND MOVIES AND ALL SORTS OF THINGS WITH A.I., BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THE QUALITY OF SOME OF IT IS SO GOOD THAT IT'S HARD TO TELL WHETHER IT WAS GENERATED BY MACHINE OR NOT, SO WE HAVE SIMULTANEOUSLY AN EXPLOSION OF NEW CONTENT AND A CONCERN THAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW IF WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT WAS CREATED BY AN A.I.

ENGINE OR THE HUMAN WHO IT'S ATTRIBUTED TO.

>> WHY IS THAT DANGEROUS, IF AT ALL?

>> IF YOU'RE LOOKING, FOR EXAMPLE, AT A VIDEO OF SAYING SOMETHING ON SOCIAL MEDIA, YOU DON'T KNOW IF THAT PERSON ACTUALLY SAID THAT OR IF SOMEONE USED A.I.

TO GENERATE IT.

SIMILARLY, IF YOU'RE READING A REPORT, AN ANALYSIS OF SOMETHING, YOU DON'T KNOW WHETHER THAT WAS WRITTEN BY AN EXPERT WHO COULD BE CREDIBLE OR AN ENGINE THAT MAY BE PUTTING OUT FALSE INFORMATION.

AND AGAIN, BECAUSE THE QUALITY IS GOOD ENOUGH, SOMETIMES IT'S QUITE HARD TO TELL.

>> IF THE ACCURACY GETTING BETTER AND BETTER?

>> IT'S HARD TO SAY.

THERE IS MORE AND MORE DATA BEING AMASSED WITHIN THE ENGINES THAT CAN BE USED TO CREATE MORE OUTPUT, BUT THE ACCURACY WOULD COME FROM TWO THINGS, ONE, FROM THE DATA ITSELF BEING ACCURATE THAT WENT INTO IT AND THEN FROM THE ALGORITHMS USED TO CREATE GIVING YOU ACCURATE INFORMATION, SO I COULDN'T SAY IF IT'S BECOMING MORE ACCURATE, BUT I WILL SAY THE QUESTIONS ABOUT ITS ACCURACY ARE BECOMING MORE PRESENT AND SHARPER.

>> WHICH IS IMPORTANT AS WELL.

SO SPEAKING OF DATA, THE UNIVERSITY RECENTLY PUT OUT A STATEMENT RESTRICTING THE USE OF INSTITUTIONAL DATA THAT IS NOT CONSIDERED PUBLIC FROM BEING ENTERED INTO ANY GENERATIVE A.I.

TOOL.

WHY THAT RESTRICTION?

>> WELL, WE ALREADY HAVE RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE.

WE HAVE A LOT OF DATA THAT'S LEGALLY PROTECTED, LIKE STUDENT DATA OR MEDICAL INFORMATION.

WE DO USE SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS TO MANAGE THAT DATA, BUT WE VERY CAREFULLY CHECK IT FOR CYBERSECURITY AND ENTER INTO CONTRACTS TO HELP WITH CORRECTION.

THESE A.I.

TOOLS HAVEN'T BEEN SCRUTINIZED.

THE WAY THEY WORK MAY OR MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR CERTAIN KINDS OF DATA AND WE'RE NOT IN A CONTRACTUALLY PROTECTED ENVIRONMENT.

SO THERE WAS NOTHING -- A.I.

ITSELF ISN'T BAD AND THERE'S NOTHING NEW ABOUT THIS.

IT WAS REALLY A REMINDER TO OUR COMMUNITY OF THE STANDARDS WE ALREADY HAVE IN PLACE FOR WORKING WITH SENSITIVE DATA.

>> SO MACHINE LEARNING HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE AND IN ACADEMIC USE.

WHAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF IT, ITS USE AT THE UNIVERSITY?

>> WELL, WE'VE BEEN DOING A.I.

RESEARCH FOR MORE THAN A DECADE AT THE UNIVERSITY AND OUR RESEARCHERS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEVELOPMENT, TO THE POWER AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A.I.

TO RESEARCH INTO ETHICS AND BIAS.

WE'RE ALSO USING IT IN RESEARCH.

SO JUST A FEW EXAMPLES, IF YOU'RE WORKING WITH A CHEMICAL THERAPY, PERHAPS MEDICINE, AND YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS, YOU CAN TRAIN A.I.

ALGORITHMS TO DO THAT WORK FOR YOU, BUT IT CAN DO IT ON A MASS SCALE THAT YOU COULDN'T ACHIEVE BEFORE.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE, ONE OF OUR RESEARCHERS IS WORKING WITH AGRICULTURAL ANIMALS AND TRACKING DATA ON THE ANIMALS AROUND THEIR WELL-BEING, THEIR NUTRITION AND SO ON, BUT AGAIN, THE DIFFERENCE IS HE CAN DO THIS WORK ON A MASSIVE SCALE THAT HE WASN'T ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH IN THE PAST, AND SO WE'RE SEEING IT COME IN IN TRANSPORTATION, SPACE, SCIENCE, MEDICINE AND IN MANY AREAS.

>> AS TO STUDENTS' USE OF A.I., GENERATIVE A.I.

TO COMPLETE ASSIGNMENTS, EVEN MAJOR ONES LIKE TERM PAPERS, WHAT IS THE UNIVERSITY'S POSITION ON THIS?

>> WELL, THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO TAKE THAT QUESTION.

ARE THEY USING A.I.

IN A WAY THAT'S BEEN ASSIGNED OR THAT'S NOT BEEN ASSIGNED?

SO WE TEACH A.I., WE TEACH IT IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, WE TEACH IT IN COMPUTERS THAT USE A.I., SO HELPING OUR STUDENTS LEARN HOW TO USE IT APPROPRIATELY.

THERE IS ALSO AN ACTIVE CONSIDERATION AROUND THE USE OF S.I.

TO GENERATE A PAPER THAT THE STUDENT WAS EXPECTED TO WRITE.

THERE'S AN ACTIVE CONVERSATION IN A COUPLE OF WAYS.

FIRST, THE STANDARDS HAVEN'T CHANGED.

CHEATING HAS ALWAYS BEEN DISALLOWED.

THIS IS JUST A NEW WAY TO POTENTIALLY DO IT.

BUT WE'RE ALSO HAVING ACTIVE CONVERSATION WITH OUR PROFESSORS AROUND ARE THERE WAYS TO ASSESS PERFORMERS THAT STEP AROUND THIS, ACTIVE LEARNING, PROJECT-BASED LEARNING, THAT WOULD NOT INTRODUCE THE POSSIBILITIES OF A MACHINE GENERATED RESPONSE.

>> ARE WE MOVING TOO FAST FOR THESE TOOLS WITHOUT ADEQUATE SAFEGUARDS IN PLACE?

>> THERE'S AN INTERESTING QUESTION NOW AROUND REGULATORY COMPLIANCE AND A.I.

AND A STATEMENT FROM THE WHITE HOUSE AROUND THE USE OF WATER MARKING IN IMAGES.

I THINK IT'S MOVING VERY, VERY QUICKLY, DISMT CONCERN I HAVE IS WHETHER THE CONVERSATION AROUND REGULATORY COMPLIANCE IS STRICTLY BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT, THE CONGRESS AND LEGISLATURE, AND BIG TECH COMPANIES.

AND I THINK TO DO THIS CORRECTLY, THERE NEEDS TO BE A WAY FOR EXPERTS, FOR EMPHASIS, FOR CITIZENS TO WEIGH INTO CONVERSATION AS WELL.

SO WE ARE MOVING QUICKLY.

WILL WE MOVE SO QUICKLY THAT WE AS CITIZENS CAN'T WEIGH IN ON THE CONVERSATION IS A CONCERN FOR ME.

>> INTERESTING.

LOIS BROOKS, THANKS VERY MUCH.

>> THANK YOU.

>> FOR MORE ON THIS AND OTHER ISSUES FACING WISCONSIN, VISIT