The Applications Directorate run a programme of Lunchtime Seminars to update University colleagues on the work that we do and services we provide. They have a hybrid attendance, with both in-person and online options, being great for communications and sharing of information among colleagues. Image Last week saw the latest in the series of lunchtime seminar programme from Applications Directorate, all about AI Adoption at the University. It was a very successful event that gathered a lot of interest, being sold out in-person and with many online attendees. The online recording and presentation slides can be accessed here, and if you would like more information on the seminar, please contact Alex Carter (alex.carter@ed.ac.uk). Michael Rovastsos, Professor of AI in Informatics, kickstarted the seminar with a brief but interesting overview of ‘What is AI?’ and its potential role in innovative teaching, after having introduced the University’s AI Adoption Task Force. This is, ‘nothing more than an informal group of enthusiasts, experts, and people from across the University,’ Michael said, ‘that tries to help increase the agility of the University in terms of getting to grips with new things like AI’. This introduction gave attendees a great insight into potential opportunities to get involved with AI in the University. A detailed demonstration of ELM (Edinburgh (access to) Language Models) followed, led by James Reid from EDINA. ELM is the University’s in-house innovative AI platform currently being rolled out to students and staff, providing a central path to safer access to Generative AI (GAI) and supporting experimentation with AI. ‘The E [in ELM] could equally stand for Experimentation,’ as part of ELM is to see what staff and students will do with it. Building on what Michael had said with the Task Force, James showed attendees more ways of interacting and getting involved with AI. Alex Carter from Service Management continued by discussing the management and governance of AI in third-party software at the University. Attendees were made aware of the issues with using third-party AI software, focusing on the recently-introduced Microsoft Copilot. Alex rounded off the seminar by talking about potential approaches to tackle AI third-party issues through Information Governance and trials, mapping out a possible plan for the future. If you would like to suggest a topic for a future seminar, please contact Stefan.kaempf@ed.ac.uk. Future IS Applications Directorate Lunchtime Seminars Please find further information including future seminars on the IS Applications Lunchtime Seminars wiki page. Image Publication date 25 Sep, 2024
