From aiding in research to the promise of augmenting classroom instruction and student learning, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly shifting the landscape of higher education. This impact is visible at UCLA, where 66% of students reported using generative AI tools throughout the academic year, according to the 2024 University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES). In addition, a majority of surveyed students reported using generative AI tools specifically to brainstorm for a writing project, research a topic, or study for exams.
Responding to these changes and their implications for instruction, the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning (VPTL) has established the Advisory Committee on AI in Teaching and Learning. The committee has representation from faculty, students, and staff committed to advancing educational innovation and facilitating the responsible adoption of effective academic technology in diverse instructional contexts. The group will offer guidance to instructors on using the technology, and support the development of new resources, programs, services, and initiatives offered by the TLC.
“Providing research-informed guidance around how to leverage emerging technologies like AI is a major priority,” said VPTL Erin Sanders O’Leary. “The TLC hopes to thoughtfully engage with stakeholders from across campus in this important conversation to continue supporting high-quality instruction.”
UCLA senior leadership sees the committee’s potential to bring the campus together by advising on how to conceptualize AI’s role in the classroom as well as to weigh in on broader infrastructure investments needed on the part of the University, including governance, support, training, and tool development.
“Entities across campus are pursuing their own paths, but we all have to come together,” said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt. “This committee convenes key campus stakeholders when it comes to AI, to provide strategic and cohesive guidance to the Bruin community about how we can best use this evolving technology in our classrooms.”
The Advisory Committee includes representation from the Academic Senate, DataX, Digital & Technology Solutions (DTS), Division of Undergraduate Education, Student Affairs, UCLA Library, and University Extension. It is co-chaired by Chris Mattmann, Inaugural Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer for DTS and the UCLA campus, and Kem Saichaie, Inaugural Executive Director of the TLC.
The committee’s broad membership positions it to address AI’s complex impact on teaching and learning.
“It is a tremendous asset to have diverse perspectives from a range of campus constituencies on the committee,” stated Saichaie. “They will provide insights into disciplinary and school/departmental priorities on teaching with AI to advance the committee’s work.”
Mattman agreed that this membership will guide recommendations on how to support all members of the learning community.
“These faculty perspectives, along with the perspectives of the student members of the committee, will ensure that we are implementing AI for the betterment of all campus populations.”
Insights will arrive as the UCLA community continues to explore AI’s evolving role within higher education. Many are eager to receive guidance on how to best use the technology safely and responsibly.
“We are at a critical point and need to assess and integrate the use of AI methods across pedagogy and other operational elements of our academic mission — be it specific education, operations, or other uses,” said committee member Alex Bui, David Geffen Chair in Informatics in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Director of the Medical & Imaging Informatics (MII) Group.
Other members noted the distinct opportunity to investigate how AI might effectively support the learning outcomes for specific disciplines, as well as help them adapt to the present moment.
“In the humanities, we must reinvent our traditional models of pedagogy to work within these new paradigms in order to hone and enrich the kinds of critical thinking, creative invention, and humanistic inquiry that our students will need to address the challenges of an uncertain future,” observed committee member Daniel Scott Snelson, Assistant Professor of English and Design Media Arts. “Rather than simply decry the challenges the AI presents to traditional forms of teaching, we have a unique opportunity to reevaluate our practices in general to better understand the mission of education today.”
While guiding how AI can enhance educational innovation, the advisory committee will also identify the technology’s evolving impact on instructors and students.
“AI provides an unprecedented opportunity to take shortcuts while going through the higher education learning experience,” observed committee member Elisa Kreiss, Assistant Professor in the UCLA Department of Communication. “This requires us as educators to rethink the learning and evaluation pipeline, so that we don’t end up in the scenario where we’re only grading AI work, we don’t actually evaluate learning, and the student who does best is the one who pays the most for their AI model.”
Learn more about generative AI tools available for UCLA faculty, staff, and students through the AI Innovation Initiative, as well as through the TLC’s using generative AI reflectively and responsibly teaching guide.