Editor’s note: This story and headline have been corrected to provide Kevin Jones correct title.
As AI continues to evolve and affects people in their day-to-day lives, it can be difficult to keep up with and adapt to all of the changes.
That’s why as part of Black History Month Columbus, Kevin Jones, an associate professor of management at Indiana University Columbus and the university’s AI strategist, and the African American Foundation of Bartholomew County will be hosting a program Wednesday titled “AI & You in the Age of Accelerated Transformation.”
During this 90-minute program, attendees will learn how practical ways to utilize AI tools, learn how it is affecting their lives, develop AI literacy skills and more during an age of accelerated transformation.
“Now some people call this age the AI age, but I call it the AI era and as part of the AI era, every person is being affected by it. Whether people are fully aware of it or not, they are being affected,” Jones said. “So this particular presentation is to context it in Black History Month in the sense that not just African Americans but everyone needs to have some familiarity with AI and more importantly, how it’s becoming part of our lives and how it is transforming our lives, work and many other things.”
The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Bartholomew County Public Library Red Room. It is free.
Jones’ interest in AI has gone back about nine years as he began to focus on self-driving cars as part of the university’s MBA program. Because of his speciality in organizations and organizational change, he’s always paid close attention to how technology affects organizations.
According to Black History Month Columbus, through interactive discussion and Q&A, attendees will connect AI concepts to everyday experiences and leave equipped to take an active role in shaping how this technology is used in one’s community.
Jones plans to engage attendees in the conversation and discuss concepts like one’s role in using an AI tool and how it affects tasks in a work context. His ultimate goal is that people familiarize themselves with AI technology so that as it develops, they develop and grow alongside it.
“The best way for people to learn is not to just have some professor come and say, ‘here’s all the stuff you need to know,’ but to share a few things and get their thoughts,” Jones said. “And perhaps, at the end of this… one of my primary goals, is they will say, ‘you know, it doesn’t mean I have to love the technology, doesn’t mean that everything I do is going to be aided and guided by AI, but I am aware enough to say that I’m going to learn more about it and keep learning as it evolves.’”
