English professor Huiling Ding will represent NC State in a new National Humanities Center (NHC) program to develop college-level courses designed to address ethical questions about the role of artificial intelligence in our world.
Ding joins faculty from 14 other colleges and universities across the country selected to participate in NHC’s recently launched Responsible AI program. Ding is also a University Faculty Scholar and serves as director of the M.S. in technical communication program. Her research focuses on AI, among other areas.
“This program will help gain momentum for studying artificial intelligence within the humanities,” says Deanna Dannels, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “And we can play a key role in developing responsible and ethical AI classes that integrate humanistic perspective with technical expertise and arm students with the skills needed to succeed in the 21st century.”
We can play a key role in developing responsible and ethical AI classes that integrate humanistic perspective with technical expertise.
In June, Ding and the other participating faculty will attend a weeklong practicum at the NHC’s headquarters in Research Triangle Park. They not only will discuss the social, cultural and ethical dynamics of AI technologies but also the best educational approaches to help students assess the impact and value of those technologies.
They’ll then develop descriptions, learning goals and syllabi for courses focused on developing responsible AI technologies. The plan is for faculty to offer those ethically designed courses for credit to undergraduates at their respective institutions during the 2023-24 academic year.
Finally, the faculty will return to NHC by the summer of 2024 to evaluate the impact of the courses on their campuses. They will also recommend possible next steps for the program, including future phases and additional national and international participants.
Founded in 1978, the NHC is an independent institute dedicated to advanced study in all areas of the humanities. Its Responsible AI program underscores the critical connection between AI and the humanities.
The same is true for Ding’s research.
A faculty member in NC State’s Department of English since 2012, Ding’s recent projects include exploring the connections between AI, AI-augmented communication technologies, AI and workforce development, entrepreneurship, writing/communication technologies, risk communication and social justice.
Among her other research areas of focus are intercultural professional, health, risk and technical communication; the rhetoric of health and medicine; social justice; and digital rhetoric. For more information about her work, visit Ding’s faculty page.
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