The release of ChatGPT has everyone abuzz about artificial intelligence. I've been getting lots of questions about our research project Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity: The Ethics of Teaching and Learning with Algorithmic Writing Technologies. We are ready to start data collection in January so I do not yet have results to share. Our team has two preliminary papers under review, but I won't say much about them until they are published. In the meantime, I wanted to share some high level thoughts on the topic since many of you have been asking.

MAKKAH: Artificial intelligence is an increasingly important part of modern life and the technologies we rely on, but it is also being used to enhance awareness and understanding of more traditional and long-established aspects of our lives and cultures. For example, AI is serving the Arabic language through its use in applications that support teaching and learning and assist in the development of dictionaries and programs to help millions of people worldwide to learn and use the language. Abdullah Al-Washmi, the secretary-general of the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language, told Arab News that the academy aims to become a global reference resource for the language by providing the tools required to promote, teach, learn and encourage the use of Arabic, in accordance with the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and its Human Capability Development Program. Part of the academy's strategy involves a focus on accelerating the pace of technical research in various fields relating to the Arabic language, using AI tools to aid understanding, he added. AI has become a major enabler of the teaching and learning of languages, Al-Washmi said, by helping to provide multiple learning patterns that allow students to learn Arabic in ways tailored to their needs.

Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) are rapidly expanding opportunities for teaching and learning, and they are giving college administrators new and different ways to track student outcomes. To learn more about the impact of these technologies, we attended a handful of panels on the topic led by higher education and technology leaders at Educause's annual conference in Denver this week. From teaching with VR to tracking student success with AI, we explore how colleges and universities are using new technologies to conduct research, teach students and create smarter campuses. Virtual and augmented reality tools can provide students with experiences that would be otherwise too expensive or even impossible to replicate in the real world, from exploring the inside of a cell to traversing faraway planets, said D. Christopher Brooks, director of research at the Educause Center for Analysis and Research. At Hamilton College, for example, these tools are changing the way the 1,850-student liberal arts institution teaches human anatomy.

What should higher education leaders be doing now to prepare for a future where Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a growing role? This webcast provides a survey of the current state of AI in education, its existing and potential applications, and questions raised for practice, policy, and advocacy of AI in teaching and learning.

Natural language processing and machine learning can be applied to student feedback to help university administrators and teachers address problematic areas in teaching and learning. The proposed system analyzes student comments from both course surveys and online sources to identify sentiment polarity, the emotions expressed, and satisfaction versus dissatisfaction. A comparison with direct-assessment results demonstrates the system's reliability.