Artificial Intelligence
Thoughtful and Deliberate Use and Non-Use of Generative AI at Colorado College
The value of a liberal arts education lies in holistic learning and critical evaluation. The deep and intensive modes of inquiry and engagement afforded by the block plan at Colorado College are not about finding quick answers. Accordingly, our thoughtful, deliberate, and iterative approach to Generative AI ultimately highlights the core of what we do and who we are as an institution.
Accordingly, our critical approach to AI will be amplified further by our core institutional values – specifically antiracism and sustainability – alongside our college’s vision "to ignite the passion and potential of our students, and the entire CC community, to create a world that is more equitable, humane, and just."
The systems, structures, and practices that have brought GenAI to its present moment, coupled with the deeply capitalist forces driving integration of the technology, are at odds with our commitment to be an antiracist institution, and one that strives to be inclusive and accessible. We continue to have much work to do in that regard. And our approach to GenAI will continue to be framed by such work.
Vision
As a national model in higher education, we will establish both official policy and best practices guidelines that govern how, when, and why GenAI will and will not be used at CC, emerging from the contexts of liberal arts learning and critical inquiry, while aligning with CC’s commitments to sustainability and antiracism.
Next Steps
The above statement was crafted at the end the 2024-25 academic year by the faculty and staff members of the AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum: Ryan Raul Bañagale, Jennifer Golightly, Neena Grover, Jane Murphy, Chris Schacht, Cory Scott, and Ane Steckenbiller. It stands as a set of guiding principles for the work that lies ahead. Moving forward we hope to articulate a shared language around AI that we can use to establish, develop, and maintain a mode of Critical AI Literacy for CC students, staff, and faculty.
Critical AI Literacy at CC
At Colorado College, Critical AI Literacy involves thoughtful engagement with generative artificial intelligence's design, implementation, and social implications. In our liberal arts environment, and aligned with our commitments to antiracism and sustainability, Critical AI Literacy goes beyond the use and understanding of specific artificial intelligence tools or their underlying technical processes, to seek informed, transparent, just, and responsible use. CAIL examines the inherent issues of bias, inequality, and access within such systems. It also raises awareness of ethical, environmental, and labor concerns in their development and implementation.
Some things that we’re reading as we consider Critical AI Literacy at CC:
- Bali, Maha. “Critical AI Literacy is Not Enough: Introducing Care Literacy, Equity Literacy & Teaching Philosophies”
- Bender, Emily, et al. “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big?”
- Bender, Emily and Alex Hanna. The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want
- Bozkurt, Aras, et al. “The Manifesto for Teaching and Learning in a Time of Generative AI: A Critical Collective Stance to Better Navigate the Future”
- Cottom, Tressie McMillan. “Mini Lecture on AI, Politics, and Inequality”
- Hunter, Frances. “Unhype Artificial ‘Intelligence’! A proposal to replace the deceiving terminology of AI”
- Mollick, Ethan. Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI
- Narayanan, Arvind and Sayash Kapoor. AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference
- Oregon State University. "Blooms Taxonomy Revisited"
- Pasquinelli, Matteo. The Eye of the Master: A Social History of Artificial Intelligence
- Roe, Jasper. “AI and the Anthropological Imagination: Rethinking Education in the Digital Age”
- Roe, Jasper, et al. “Funhouse Mirror or Echo Chamber? A Methodological Approach to Teaching Critical AI Literacy Through Metaphors”
What are you reading that we should be reading? Please share with us! And return to this page for more as we continue to build out both our descriptions of and opportunities for Critical AI Literacy at CC.
Additional Resources
In addition to our in-person conversations and workshops, we will also share out information that can help us engage in such efforts. Please let us know of any resources you think would be useful for us to highlight.
Colorado College Resources:
- AI Usage (CC Ruth Barton Writing Center)
- Tutt Library AI Research Lib Guide (CC Libraries)
- Sample Syllabus Statements (CC Honor Council)
- Artificial Intelligence (CC ITS)
You might also try this collection of videos and course content from the Spring 2024 offering of "The Science and implications of Generative AI" at the Harvard Kennedy School.
"The faculty, students, and staff of Colorado College are perfectly situated to wrestle with the implications of generative AI. We are a place where learning, research, innovation, ethics, and dialogue intersect. The experts in our interdisciplinary community can lead conversations and projects that interrogate and explore both the foundations and future of AI. As an institution that strives to foster the ethical creation of knowledge, we can rise to this challenge without trepidation and without acquiescing to the inertia of educational technology. We can ask the hard questions as we explore. Colorado College is made for this challenge and opportunity."
Professor Emily Chan, Dean of the Faculty
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