Huntington University receives Lilly Endowment grant for artificial intelligence planning

Huntington University has received a planning grant from Lilly Endowment in the amount of $125,000 for artificial intelligence study. The university will utilize the funding to determine how it can best make use of artificial intelligence in the future. The university will use 2026 to explore the challenges and opportunities it may face with the utilization of AI, and then will create a proposal for an implementation grant, which Lilly Endowment will also be funding.

According to an article on Huntington University’s website, Dr. Becky Benjamin, who serves as a professor of psychology and will be playing a lead role in the university’s planning, was quoted as saying of artificial intelligence and the opportunity this grant will provide, “We all know that AI technologies have reached a level of sophistication in recent years that have allowed them to significantly impact all of our lives. For some time that impact was more behind the scenes — but since the release of public-facing large language model chatbots in late 2022, the impact has exploded. Both business and education have experienced significant ramifications from this technology. Thus, this grant plays a critical role in helping us continue to adapt in ways that ensure our students and graduates are prepared to thrive and serve effectively in our world.”

Benjamin also commented on the negative perception many have about artificial intelligence, and shared her belief that the technology can be a useful and necessary technology. She said, “Modern Artificial Intelligence has a 75-year history. It has taken a while for it to progress to a level where it can reasonably be used as a substitute for much human output in the real world, but clearly it has reached that level in many domains. As a Christian institution of higher education, we believe that human beings are created in the image of God and have unique purpose in creation. We know that technologies shape us, and they can be used in ways that foster either flourishing or decline. We need to understand the technologies that are influential in our societies and discern if and how they can be used to promote the flourishing of people and all of God's creation. More narrowly, our students have these technologies available to them, and they will be a part of the lives and workplaces that our students enter as they graduate. In our calling to prepare students to engage wisely with their professions, relationships and communities, we need to help them understand when and how AI should play a role in that engagement. We also want to understand better how AI can be used at our institution to develop more efficient systems that allow our people to spend more time on the creative and relational work that they are so gifted in.”

Huntington University will use the planning grant from Lilly Endowment to explore and address the potential challenges that artificial intelligence may have on education. Part of the $125,000 funding will be used to hire someone to help cover Benjamin’s teaching responsibilities so she can have more time to spend involved with the various projects and committees that will arise throughout the planning process. Additionally, the university will hire consultants, participate in conferences, engage in training, and collaborate with other entities which may prove useful for Huntington’s next grant proposal for implementation funding.

For more information about Huntington University, visit the school’s website.