Artificial intelligence is one of the fastest-growing technologies, be it in classrooms, workplaces and everyday life. On Sept. 24, students gathered to map out just how far AI can reach at an AI speaker event held by the ACM and Entrepreneurship club.

Participants were given pre-written questions that asked things like “What are ways tech could improve community safety without invading privacy?” and “How can AI be used to make college life easier?”

“I think AI has become such a huge part of our daily lives, especially with college students,” Kennedy Keller, a junior psychology and Spanish double major, said. “The event helped me see more ways that technology is implemented in our lives and the mind maps gave a good visual representation of it.”

The collaboration between students led to ideas of possibly creating AI apps to help with networking to get jobs or connect with alumni, the process of studying and having AI make a calendar for yourself and even using it to monitor who has access to what you own.

Eric Arseneau, associate professor of professional practice, teaches courses on creativity and technology at TCU and has a strong passion for generative AI.

“I’ve always been drawn to technology as a tool for expression,” Arseneau said. “I’m not mechanically inclined, so software has always been my go-to medium for creating new things.”

He spoke about the growth of AI and how people try and argue that ‘AI isn’t new,’ but with the constant development of it, it’s hard to say it isn’t new when something new is being created almost every day.

Arseneau encouraged students to learn AI and test it, so they can have the ability to stay competitive and learn how it can be used ethically.

“From a career perspective, ask AI for the artifacts of a role in your target field,” Arseneau said. “These are things that people produce each day for work. You could potentially learn a lot about the job by working backwards from its final outputs.”