RALEIGH, North Carolina (WTVD) — North Carolina is positioning itself as a leader in artificial intelligence.
College students shared their experiences with ABC11 on rapidly evolving technology.
Noah Campbell, a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, recalled his first exposure to AI around 2019, describing it as “machine learning, basic image recognition or speech synthesis.”
Duke graduate Hannah Ford remembers a winter class on image recognition in 2021.
“I just feel a strange feeling, like something big is going to happen,” she said. “This could be a transformative technology, and we’re all on the cutting edge of something.”
AI has since become an everyday tool for young adults, used for tasks like nutritional tracking, online tutoring, and platforms like ChatGPT.
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Campbell highlighted his ability to “take in a lot of information and paraphrase it”, particularly useful for creating study quizzes during exams. He is also part of a project introducing AI culture into English classes and organizing curriculum workshops to modernize curricula.
Ford said he had the opportunity to participate in an OpenAI ChatGPT lab at Duke with students from across the country.
“It’s a personalized learning assistant, a way to simplify tasks and even serve as a decision aid,” Ford said.
According to the most recent data from the Pew Research Center, about 20% of U.S. workers say they use AI for at least part of their job, and 61% of Americans want more control over how AI is used in their lives.
While acknowledging concerns about the high volume of AI-generated content, Campbell compared the technology to fire, highlighting its potential for both benefit and harm.
State leaders are working to adapt and implement strong safeguards.
Campbell believes that regulation will emerge through trial and error, saying: “We can start creating policies and think about what rules we want to put in place. »
Ford emphasized the importance of education.
“A new program in which every student across the country must take an introductory AI course, not only to briefly understand how the models work so they can use them better, but also to learn what to watch out for and what to be wary of,” she said.
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