NAU Professors Explore Equitable Integration of AI in Education andโฃ Creative Fields
Northern Arizona University โ(NAU) professors are โคactively researching the evolving โคrole โขof Generative AI (GenAI) โin both education and creative industries, focusing โขon equitable access and responsible implementation. Their work aims to understand how students and โขprofessionals can best leverage AI as a collaborative tool, ratherโข than a replacement for humanโ skill and ingenuity.
One study, led by a researcher namedโ Kh, focusesโค on student engagement with GenAI in real academic โขsettings, notablyโ within STEM โขfields. Her goals include fostering AI literacy – especially among first-generation, rural, andโ underrepresented learners – โand supporting faculty in becoming comfortable with these new technologies. Ultimately, โshe โขseeks to โฃdevelop evidence-based recommendationsโข for integrating GenAI equitably into STEM education. Kh anticipates her findings will extend โbeyondโค academia,โ informingโ moreโค equitable GenAI use in industries like healthcare, โคengineering, and โfinance by improving workplace training, jobโฃ simulations, and continuing education. Sheโ emphasizes understanding how learners use AI toโ solve problems, reviseโฃ ideas, and evaluateโค facts.
In the School of Communication,Professor of visual โฃCommunication Johnson is exploring AI’s potential as a creative collaborator. His project centers on developing โclassroom-readyโฃ workflows that integrate โindustry-standard tools like After Effects, Procreate Dreams, and โขBlenderโ with AIโ assistants. These workflows โฃwill be tested through guidedโ stories, comparing traditional pipelines to AI-assisted ones to assess time savings and quality improvements.โฃ Johnson โขplans โฃto create open-source โขteaching modules for wider adoption by other instructors.
A key focus of Johnson’sโค work is teaching students to direct, critique, and โขrefine AI’s output, maintaining authorship, ethics, and creativity at โฃthe forefront. His study โฃwill also โaddressโข the ethical considerations surrounding AI training and provenance, prioritizing tools that respect artists’ โฃrights and avoid unauthorizedโค imitation of โคliving artists’ styles.He stressesโ that AIโ should provide feedback โ after initial creation, notโข generate theโข work itself.
The research highlights โคa shared vision: โขAI isโค a powerful tool, but its effective and ethical use requires a focus on human skill, โcritical thinking,โฃ and responsible implementation.
source: https://news.nau.edu/trail-research-25/ (original Post by Heidi Toth, September 10, 2025)