Artificial Intelligence: The School of Medicine’s response to AI

This blog is written by Dr Thanasi Hassoulas, Matthew Hayden and Dr Matthew Mort, co-chairs of the AI in Medic Group.

We have all, by now, heard about ChatGPT. Whilst Generative AI (GenAI) is hardly a new concept (dating back to the ELIZA platform in the 1960s), the recent public access to GenAI tools has served as a watershed moment on many fronts. This rapidly evolving technology has the potential to truly revolutionise the way in which we work, study, and even interact with one another. The applications, and implications, seem rather limitless at present. In the School of Medicine, we have assembled an AI in Medic Group, affiliated with the central university AI in Education Group led by Prof Kate Gilliver and Matthew Townsend. Our AI in Medic Group has been looking at two key GenAI-related interventions: Impact of AI on Teaching, and AI in the Workplace.

In relation to AI in Teaching, Dr Thanasi Hassoulas has been leading on this strand with his HIVE Unit. This has involved integrating AI into teaching on information literacy, with the help of our subject librarian Delyth Morris, as well as introduced timetabled lectures across all five years of the MBBCh undergraduate medicine programme on how to use GenAI responsibly. These sessions have also been rolled out across postgraduate taught programmes. E-Guides have been created for undergraduate students and postgraduate students in the school of medicine. The integration of AI in the undergraduate medicine curriculum has also begun, with students being trained on how to use GenAI platforms such as Microsoft’s Copilot and Elicit. The group has initiated a cross-school collaboration that will be investing in a platform to provide medical, nursing, dental, and other healthcare students with the opportunity to practice communication skills with GenAI-based simulated virtual patients and other avatars. Key drivers for the group are to:

• Further enhance the student learning experience
• Train students on how to use AI responsibly and ethically
• Prepare our students adequately for a workforce that is now also making more use of these technological advances, especially in key areas of clinical practice and research.

Dr Matthew Mort and Matthew Hayden have been leading on AI in the Workplace, and specifically the organisational applications. They have helped numerous teams use AI tools and software to improve efficiencies, to analyse large datasets using a secure in-house AI closed system and supporting academics as well as professional service staff in working more productively by embracing technological advances. They host a very popular workshop on Digital Productivity and AI in the Workplace, which is available to all Cardiff University staff (see hyperlink for upcoming planned workshops). They have also worked with Thanasi on delivering open-staff briefings aimed at support colleagues on how to use various GenAI tools and platforms. The Matts (as they are collectively, and affectionately, referred to in Medic) are advocates of encouraging all staff to experiment with AI in general and to share their experiences. This collective exploration and sharing of practices will enrich our understanding of the tools that are currently available and how we may be able to best use these to enhance our own practice(s).

Give it a go

To get started, learn by doing. Can you can master AI by binge-reading your twitter/X feed? It’s like becoming a chef by watching cooking shows! The only way to truly grasp AI’s strengths (and when it goes badly wrong) is to roll up your sleeves and dive in. Using Microsofts Copilot try this simple prompt….to explain a complicated topic like you are five years old.

Example prompt (ELI5): “Explain quantum entanglement like I am 5 (ELI5)”

How did it do? Does asking better questions get better answers? Be curious and experiment!

Contact

To learn more about what the group do, or to share your own experiences and ideas, please contact Thanasi (HassoulasA2@cardiff.ac.uk), Matt M (MortM@cardiff.ac.uk), or Matt H (HaydenMJ1@cardiff.ac.uk) or register for the Digital Productivity and AI in the Workplace staff courses.

The Learning and Teaching Academy support staff with Digital Education, and host a program of Continuous Professional Development courses for staff. Take a look at the courses or contact us on ltacademy@cardiff.ac.uk.