University of Michigan is turning its campus into a real-world AI proving ground, where emerging technology meets the next generation of workers before they even graduate.

That experiment took center stage during Google LLC’s recent “GCP Goes to School” immersive event — a week-long, hands-on experience that brought cloud tools, AI workflows and career conversations directly to students at the University of Michigan. It’s part of a broader conversation about the role AI has to play in education and its impact on employment for the next generation of workers.

“The people who feel like ‘let’s not leave anybody behind’ … that’s going to be huge,” said Bobby Allen (pictured, second from left), cloud therapist at Google. “The people that are coming up with the right question. AI can help you get to the answer faster, but if you’re going down the wrong path, why we’re doing this is going to be so much more important than just what we do. I don’t want to build a three-story house for someone in a wheelchair. I want to make sure I’m contextualizing the solution based on what people need.”

Allen, alongside three University of Michigan students — Ciara Cade (right), Calvin Kraus (center) and Sydney Allen (second from right) — spoke with Savannah Peterson (left) for the “Google Cloud: Passport to Containers” interview series, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the University of Michigan’s approach to AI, where Google Cloud fits in, and the future of the Gen Z workforce. (* Disclosure below.)

AI as a part of the college experience

The student representatives from the University of Michigan all use AI as part of their degree, most commonly for writing emails, summarizing notes and asking questions about their work in lieu of speaking to a TA or professor. As the first generation of students to really experience the impact of tools such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini, they’re navigating uncertain — and largely self-directed — territory.

“The university has definitely taken efforts to start to implement it into their curriculum,” said Kraus, a business major who hopes to work at a startup when he graduates. “But for the most part, I think there’s a lot of self-learning that’s been going on with students. There’s so many free online resources that people are using.”

For group projects, Google Gemini’s easy integration with Google Drive makes collaboration easier, according to Kraus. Sydney Allen employs the University of Michigan’s propriety ChatGPT instance, U-M GPT, to critique her English papers. Still, the students agree that AI has clear limits.

“We’re definitely approaching an era where people are relying on AI way too much for any issues that they have,” said Cade, a computer science student who got into the field after building her own computer during the pandemic. “For example, I don’t really recommend AI for creative writing. I actually picked up a book this summer and it made me realize how much I was missing out, letting AI write basically everything that I do.”

That sentiment may be cold comfort to those concerned over current college students’ lack of literacy, but AI is increasingly being used as a comprehension aid rather than a creative replacement. For example, both Cade and Bobby Allen are fans of NotebookLM, which creates audio overviews of whatever materials it is given, such as class notes or, in Allen’s case, who is a Stewardship Pastor, one of his sermons.

“NotebookLM was a game changer,” Allen said. “Being able to kind of compress down learning that would have taken a lot of time and be able to upload multiple sources and turn that into a podcast that you could listen to while you walk your dog, this is the future.”

Beyond the university: AI’s risks and rewards

For all its benefits, expanding AI use across everyday student tasks — from drafting emails to summarizing coursework or self-critiquing assignments — comes with tradeoffs. Environmental impact is a growing concern, along with AI’s potential to automate jobs into nonexistence.

“I was not very aware that it affected the environment,” Sydney Allen said. “Even being here [on University of Michigan’s campus], I remember it was late September, and it’s still in the 80s, even though the first two weeks of school were in the 60s. I do believe in climate change. I am a little bit worried since [AI] is now being integrated … that we’re not going to have as much of a way to take a step back in terms of how that’s affecting the environment.”

There is, however, also optimism that AI itself could help reduce its own environmental footprint, particularly through more energy-efficient GPU design, a point Cade raised when discussing how engineering innovation may offset the technology’s impact. At the same time, students are focused on limiting AI’s disruption to the job market, especially for recent graduates.

“We’re just now reaching our 20s, and we have a lot to say about things that are happening in the world,” Cade said of Gen Z. “What companies could do better is allowing us to have a constant stance and a constant spotlight when it comes to issues and topics, because we’re very fast acting. A lot of trends come and go because of us. Especially with dealing with AI, we have a lot to say about it.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of the “Google Cloud: Passport to Containers” interview series: 

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the “Google Cloud: Passport to Containers” series. Neither Google Cloud, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE