University leaders weigh AI use in education, health during Pitt summit |

Every 10 years or so, there is a new gadget or technology that transforms higher education, reflected Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, laptops and internet connectivity took campuses by storm. A decade later, online courses were all the rage.

Now, artificial intelligence seems to be the driving force of adaptation in higher education. As universities embed this technology deeply into their curricula, Mr. Jahanian is hopeful it will improve students’ learning outcomes.

“I think we’re finally at the cusp of understanding and learning the science, and bringing AI to bear,” Mr. Jahanian said. “I predict that within the next 10 years, we will see a fundamental shift in how we teach [and] how we learn … for students of all ages, from K-12 [to] higher ed.”

The CMU president joined four other university leaders to speak on the intersection of AI, health and education during a Monday morning panel at the University of Pittsburgh.

That panel was part of a joint global summit and competitiveness series hosted by Pitt this week. Between 200 and 300 people from 20 countries traveled to Oakland for the three-day event.

The gathering marks a historic event on numerous points. This is the first time that the Global Innovation Summit — an annual gathering of international leaders in industry, government, business and academia, hosted by the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils — has taken place in the United States.

It’s also the first time that the summit has been paired with a Competitiveness Conversations series, hosted by the Washington, D.C.-based Council on Competitiveness.

In addition to Mr. Jahanian, other Monday morning panelists included Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel, Ohio State President Ted Carter, University of Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold, University of South Carolina President Emeritus Harris Pastides and Charles Holliday, the chairman of GFCC USA and chair emeritus of the Council on Competitiveness USA.

AI isn’t just applicable to engineering and information science and technology, said Dr. Gold of the University of Nebraska. It also has uses in fields such as health care, agriculture, energy and international defense.

Looking at health care specifically, AI can be used to accelerate research, reduce costs, enhance safety and increase access to rural communities, said Dr. Gold, who previously served as chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He believes it is vital for U.S. schools to embrace this technology.

Mr. Carter of Ohio State echoed this. At Ohio’s flagship school, AI is now embedded into every undergraduate curriculum. The goal is for every Ohio State student to be “AI fluent” by 2029, Mr. Carter said.

This is a “critical moment” for higher education, he believes, adding that the AI era is about “more than just ChatGPT.”

“[ Ohio State] has size, scale and scope, and it gives us that opportunity to really lean forward and play on offense, when unfortunately many of our higher education systems are playing on defense these days,” Mr. Carter said.

The panel also allowed Ms. Gabel and Mr. Jahanian to shine a spotlight on Pittsburgh’s role as an AI pioneer.

Pittsburgh is a city of “eds, meds and emerging tech,” Mr. Jahanian told the panel’s audience in Alumni Hall. Several months ago, CMU hosted an AI and energy summit that was attended by President Donald Trump and other state and national leaders.

Ms. Gabel added that Pitt and CMU have been foundational in “reinventing the Steel City.” The region’s eye for collaboration made it the ideal location to host a summit on the intersection of AI and health sciences, she believes.

“The nature of what’s happening here feels very energized, positioned to cope with the headwinds as they come, and anchored because it was born out of very challenging headwinds,” the chancellor said.

During another panel on Monday, Pitt leaders delved into Pitt Bioforge, a $250 million lab and manufacturing facility at Hazelwood Green slated to open within two or three years.

Tuesday morning, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will deliver the event’s keynote speech.

In conjunction with the summit, Pitt also announced it would launch its first fully online undergraduate degree next year. The bachelor of science in health informatics will emphasize health data science, informatics and AI.