Johnathan Keiser, St. Thomas’ vice president of Academic Technology and Innovation and STELAR Center leader, attended the Undergraduate Student Government meeting to discuss the implementation of AI at St. Thomas on Thursday.
The STELAR Center works to support faculty in advancing blended, online and technology-enhanced learning, Keiser said.
“We have a team of instructional designers and instructional technologists, and we try to help faculty produce high-quality online learning environments,” Keiser said.
Resources like the STELAR Center and new AI technology will reshape student learning, Keiser said.
“I have a series of statistics about — 51% of college teachers report that it improves their grades,” Keiser said. “72% of faculty are using it already for instructional tasks.”
Some other AI benefits that Keiser listed included: personalized content and pacing, 24/7 tailored guidance, instant feedback, customized study materials, greater inclusion for diverse and multilingual learners and more.
St. Thomas itself already has two unique AI systems to make resources more accessible for students, faculty and staff: TommieBot and TommieTech AI Search.
TommieBot answers questions that could be found on St. Thomas’ or in its policies, and TommieTech AI Search provides technology help.
“All of these tools have some element of ethics, and that is going to be Tommies’ edge in the workplace,” Keiser said.
Keiser said that AI’s implementation at St. Thomas will not take jobs from people but will assist them in their positions.
“It is not replacing teachers,” Keiser said. “It is not there yet by far.”
Keiser also addressed the environmental concerns with AI, discussing how the “ethics portion” of St. Thomas’ AI graduate programs mainly focuses on its environmental impacts.
“In the ethics badge, that is the largest piece,” Keiser said. “In order to run AI, to build these large language systems, to train them, to use them, it uses a lot of water and energy, so that has to be a part of the conversation.”
The meeting took an intermission when Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States was elected as the new Pope — Pope Leo XIV.
Crowds filled the Anderson Student Center, cheering and celebrating the Pope’s election.
“It’s hard to follow that up,” Vice President of Student Affairs Karen Lange said.
Cecilia Wallace can be reached at wall1238@stthomas.edu.
