OREM — The world is changing quickly as artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent, including in the classroom.

Utah Valley University is trying to embrace it, despite its potential pitfalls and the speed at which AI is developing.

“It’s a brave new world,” Astrid Tuminez, UVU’s president, said in an interview with KSL TV. “Technology – you can never stop it, and so knowing and understanding its uses is really important.”

Using AI in the classroom

Noah Myers teaches accounting at Utah Valley University’s main campus in Orem. More and more, he finds himself using AI in the classroom.

“It’s really a net gain for education,” Myers said.

This semester he’s teaching students how to use ChatGPT to create a spreadsheet that will make their jobs as accountants easier.

Before AI made it easier to input coding and programming instructions, Myers said, this would have taken a lot longer.

“Students can rely on it as their assistant,” he said, “and it can help them learn.”

This is just one example of how UVU – which has roughly 45,000 students – is trying to get a better handle on artificial intelligence.

“We need to understand how AI works,” Tuminez said.

She pointed out that UVU has recently started using it in many ways. That includes courses like computer science and sociology, and helping students learn to identify “deepfake” images and videos in political messaging.

Plus, Tuminez said, the university has created an institute to look at how to train faculty on AI, how to prevent cheating, and how to make human resources processes better.

“And we have pioneered a chatbot – a teaching assistant – that is available 24/7 for some of our largest courses,” Tuminez added.

Concerns about AI

But there are concerns about artificial intelligence on campus like plagiarism, or students letting a computer do their thinking for them.

“It’s a real concern,” acknowledged Barclay Burns, UVU’s new assistant dean of applied AI. “Sometimes it’s easier to just let it do it for you and not go through all of the discipline of learning how to be a good writer, a good thinker, a good problem solver.”

But AI isn’t going away, and Burns said it’s important to understand how to better use it – even though it feels like the “wild, wild west” right now, with artificial intelligence technology constantly changing and improving.

Burns said UVU is launching an initiative that will gather feedback from professors and come up with new guidelines for AI use going forward.

“If students lean into, and the faculty lean into it, I think we’ll end up having smarter students,” Burns said.

Preparing for the workforce

Tuminez, UVU’s president, said students today need to understand how to use artificial intelligence as they prepare for full-time jobs.

“We want them to be workforce-ready,” Tuminez said. “Whatever field you’re going to be in – whether that’s entertainment or computer science or engineering or politics – AI is going to apply to all of these fields.”

Accounting student Conner Mariluch is about to graduate in a few months. He said using AI in Professor Myers’s class helped him learn.

As a result, Mariluch said, he feels better prepared for the workforce.

“From a practical perspective,” he said, “this was probably one of the most relevant experiences I had here at UVU.”

Southern Utah at No. 12 Utah, Thursday, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

BetMGM College Football Odds: No line.

Series record: Utah 2-0

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Utah makes its debut as a member of the Big 12 Conference as the preseason favorite to win the league title. The Utes are finally healthy after battling injuries last season and have experience and depth across the board. Utah has won 14 straight games over FCS opponents since 1994, including a pair of victories over Southern Utah. Coming off its first winning season since 2017, Southern Utah seeks its first victory over an FBS opponent in 11 years.

KEY MATCHUP

Utah has a more potent passing attack on paper than last season and the Utes will likely try to stretch the field. Southern Utah is breaking in a new quarterback, so getting stops early from the defense will be crucial.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Utah: All eyes will be on QB Cam Rising, who missed the entire 2023 season after suffering a severe knee injury in the Rose Bowl. The seventh-year senior has 5,572 career passing yards and 46 career passing touchdowns. He threw 254 yards and 3 TDs in Utah’s 73-7 victory over the Thunderbirds in 2022.

Southern Utah: Success for the Thunderbirds will come down being able to find cracks in Utah’s stifling run defense. RBs Braedon Wissler and Targhee Lambson combined for 1,169 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground a year ago and both will factor heavily into the offense again this season.

FACTS & FIGURES

Utah has never lost to an FCS team in Kyle Whittingham’s 30 years of coaching at the school. FCS opponents have scored just 8.3 points per game against the Utes during that span. … SUU won its final four games of 2023 while allowing 13.3 points per contest over that stretch. … The Utes have posted a winning record in 10 straight seasons … SUU has lost 15 straight games against FBS teams since edging South Alabama 22-21 in 2013. … Utah has scored 94 rushing touchdowns since 2021.

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NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, the Utah Hockey Club.

While most of the NHL is preparing for new arrivals in the form of draft picks and free agents ahead of the 2024-25 season, things are a little different in Utah. Players and staff for the Utah Hockey Club are picking out houses, choosing school systems and finding their way to the nearest grocery store.

But once training camp starts, the Utah Hockey Club will get started on a season that it hopes will end in a competitive spring — and maybe even in a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

General manager Bill Armstrong won’t go quite that far, though.

“I really like the way it’s come together,” Armstrong told NHL.com in late July. “I like the way the organization is set up. It’s very rare that you don’t have a bad contract on your team, and we’ve set ourselves up to now make that next step.

“But it also has to happen organically. You can’t just make it happen on paper. The team has to make a step on the ice. And they have a chance to do that this year. If we can be playing meaningful games down the stretch, it’s going to be a hell of a season.”

The Utah Hockey Club officially joined the NHL on June 13 and purchased the contracts of Arizona Coyotes executives, coaches and players, taking over a rebuild that is in its fourth year. To go along with a bright young core, the organization has accumulated and hit on draft picks to bolster its prospect pool by taking on contracts and developing a scouting staff.

It has gotten them to the point where Armstrong will call his charges “a decent team.”

And though everyone in Utah, from the new owners to its newest fans, would welcome a playoff spot, that’s something Armstrong believes is a goal for next season. For this season, he’s keeping his expectations more tempered.

“If you look at our roster, how far we stripped it down, it’s very rare that a team going through the rebuild coming out of the fourth year makes the playoffs,” Armstrong said. “We’ve got to set realistic goals here. I don’t see us [in the postseason] — you never know — but it’s unlikely. What we want to do is take that step where we know we can be in the hunt and play meaningful games.

“If we can do that coming down the stretch and be driving in the final 20 games, it’s going to give us a lot of momentum for the following season.”