KDSN RADIO News
UI profs to publish a premiere textbook on the ethical use of AI
A University of Iowa instructor wanted to teach students in his business analytics class about artificial intelligence, but couldn’t find a decent textbook on the topic, so he decided to write one.
Professor Pat Johanns, in the UI’s Tippie College of Business, worked with two colleagues to craft “AI in Business: Creating Value Responsibly,” which will be published in January.
It will be one of the first college texts to address ethics and the responsible use of AI in the corporate domain. First, he says, AI isn’t new.
Prof. Pat Johanns (UI photo)
“The field of artificial intelligence started in the 1950s,” Johanns says, “and it has grown in fits and starts basically since then, depending on advancements in the hardware, the software programs, and the theories that people were using through this whole time.”
While it can be called a textbook, Johanns says it’s more accurate to refer to this new body of work as a resource, since it will initially only be available electronically.
“We’re using a platform called an evergreen publishing,” Johanns says. “The idea here is that when you’ve got a field that is changing so quickly, it’s almost pointless to go to a print format, because when you go to print format, you’re kind of restricted on how often you can update the material.”
The news is filled with stories about how AI is being misused in myriad ways, by scammers, counterfeiters, pornographers, and all sorts of criminals, but Johanns argues AI itself is not evil — nor is it bent on seizing the planet from humans.
“I absolutely believe it can be used for good, and that’s one reason why I’m pushing for us to teach every student about AI before they leave,” Johanns says. “That’s one of the initiatives that’s coming out of the University of Iowa right now. We’ve got a campus-wide AI certificate that is launching next year.”
He says the responsible use of AI in business or in any field has to come with a series of checks and balances.
“I like to describe generative AI as, it’s kind of like an enthusiastic intern. Its primary goal is to give you an answer. A secondary goal is that the answer is accurate,” Johanns says. “So whenever you get an answer from ChatGPT, or Copilot, you really need to verify it.”
The book’s coauthors are James Chaffee, also a UI professor of business analytics, and Jackie Rees Ulmer, dean of the College of Business at Ohio University.
