
Our guest speakers were Jonathan Blair, Instructor, Information Technology and Professor Dale Yerpe at Jamestown Community College, who both discussed the latest developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI). The two were introduced by Dan Heitzenrater, who explained that earlier this year the Jamestown Community College board of trustees and faculty had a meeting focusing on AI, especially as it related to academics. Yerpe is a profession of English at JCC, primarily at the Olean Campus. He also considers himself a student of AI. Blair is a computer science professor at JCC. He grew up in Silicon Valley and wrote his first computer program at the age of 3. He also worked on AI simulations since the 1990s and also over 50 video games that incorporate AI.

Yerpe - who appeared via Zoom - shared details about how he teaches students and others how to use AI, explaining part of his job is to get his students into a conversation with AI, because anyone who is "out in the world or looking for jobs needs to have that experience and know what it's like." He said AI programs are valuable to get into a discussion with because they will, like any partner or editor, give feedback and raise issues, at a low level at first. But the more you interact with and prompt the AI to do things a particular way, the more its behavior will change to do it that way. As a result, AI can be a useful tool to assist with writing, graphic design, running an ad campaign, and more. He said AI hasn't changed our lives just yet, but when it does, it will do so in unpredictable ways. That's why it's important we start to use it sooner, rather than later, so we all can understand and be prepared for how it advances in the coming years. He said jobs that are repetitive, including sports reporting and obituary writing, are all being done by AI now. That means those jobs we consider "entry level positions" are all being kicked up a step due to AI. But as long as a job requires being creative, it won't be replaced by AI.
The guests also took time fielding several questions from members in the audience. Following the presentation and Q&A sessions, the meeting was adjourned.