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Balancing the Future Ep. 30 - Beyond the Degree: Making AI Your Edge with Dr. Sean Stein Smith
343 Plays16 days ago
Dr. Sean Stein Smith, award winning faculty member at Lehman College, joins host Chris Mitchell to discuss how students can prepare for AI-integrated careers. Smith emphasizes ethical AI usage, continuous upskilling, and integrating tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini into curriculum from day one. He stresses the importance of networking with AI users at companies, volunteering for AI projects, and leveraging free resources like Coursera. Come join us as Dr. Smith highlights how AI is now baseline for business graduates, enabling professionals to reach unprecedented productivity levels if used strategically.
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Transcript
Introduction to Dr. Sean Stein Smith and AI Education
00:00:09
Speaker
My name is Christopher Mitchell and welcome to another episode of Balancing the Future. I'm excited to have back in my presence, Dr. Sean Stein Smith. And we're going spend some time talking about artificial intelligence.
00:00:22
Speaker
Before I get too deep into the discussion, ah Dr. Smith, if you would mind us sharing more about yourself. I know we did an update or download, but some may not know you.
00:00:33
Speaker
but Absolutely, Chris. Happy to do it. And ah happy to be back here, too. I'm Sean Steinsmith on the faculty at Lehman College. And really, over the last, at this point, three and a half years, I have been trying to dive deep into AI, both at the overview level, tools, applications, all the rest, and also really honing in on what our students have to know now, what they're going to have to know in the future, and how we as educators, both in the colleges and outside, are best able to help our students get a handle
00:01:09
Speaker
on that information. So I'm amped to be here, really excited for our conversation here today, Christopher.
AI's Impact on Workplace Expectations
00:01:17
Speaker
Dr. Smith, you know, I was thinking about our conversation today and all of the changes that are happening as it relates to artificial intelligence. there is This stuff is coming fast and I mean furious as it relates to what's happening within the workplace and the expectation of those that are coming into the workplace.
00:01:37
Speaker
yeah So when I think about what we're going to talk about today in academia and how you're preparing the students, we're going to spend all of our time trying to educate this audience on what to be on the lookout for. And what I mean by that, those that are coming out of school, as well as those that might already be in corporate and trying to figure out how do I get better ah when it comes to AI.
00:02:00
Speaker
So when I think about ah AI, I mean, what are you doing as an educational institution First and foremost, what is your primary objective? Because I know you said you've been gearing up, you've been learning, you've been researching.
00:02:13
Speaker
What is the primary concern for an educational institution now when it when it comes to students and graduating and making sure they have what they need?
Ethical Use and Familiarity with AI Tools
00:02:22
Speaker
So, excellent question there, Chris. And it and it's really a part A,
00:02:29
Speaker
are Part B answer. I'd say Part A is to, at the institutional level, be it at Lehman, be it at CUNY overall, or at any other institution, it is our job and our main directive, Part A, is to make sure that our students are able to use the wide range of ai tools out there, be it ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Copilot, Dali, any of those AI tools, our students have to be able to use them, be conversant in them, and to do so in an ethical manner.
00:03:05
Speaker
and And that's really where it is a bit tricky, right? Because ethics and AI is a emerging conversation. And depending on the course, on the context, on the employer, that definition of ethical use, it is not exactly the same across the board.
Post-Graduation Learning in AI
00:03:25
Speaker
And then two, The part B to our answer is to make sure our students have access to the correct type of learning content as they exit our institution to be able to keep up to date.
00:03:39
Speaker
Now, granted, we aren't able to always give them access to everything after graduation, but our students have to be equipped with where to go and how to access it as they're in the workforce. Because AI right now, it's a tool.
00:03:55
Speaker
It's a trend. that is constantly changing. And so even if you're up to date today in in six months, part of that information is going to be out of date.
00:04:07
Speaker
And so really it's part A, ethical usage and knowledge of those tools. And part B, being aware of how to up upgrade yourself and upskill your knowledge after graduation.
Is AI Usage Essential for Competitiveness?
00:04:22
Speaker
you know I'm going to ask this, and this is going be a bit of a tricky question. and I know we had talked about this ahead of time, and we didn't talk about this one thing. Does AI make me a better student?
00:04:34
Speaker
and my If I'm competing, and you know where I'm going with this, do I need to use it in order to be a successful student? so Chris, that's an excellent question, and there are all kinds of anecdotal stories. I believe actually there were headlines in the times back during the, I think it was maybe April or May of a student that had completed almost all of a master's program at some institution entirely using AI.
00:05:04
Speaker
so So to answer your question, do I have to use AI to basically keep pace, right? yeahre If yeah everyone else is on the AI juice, do I have to be on it?
00:05:16
Speaker
I would say that it isn't going to hurt. that if That if your peers and your competition, don't forget, peers are competition in 99% of all cases.
00:05:29
Speaker
If everybody is using AI to automate certain processes, help them outline things faster, create content, modify content, and have that out the door faster, be it external financials, marketing, anything else, and you aren't, all that you're doing is competing with one arm tied behind your back.
Gaining a Competitive Edge with AI
00:05:50
Speaker
And so I personally actively encourage anybody and everybody that I have any contact with in the classroom, at conferences, on on podcasts, to try to use AI in a manner that it's going to help you.
00:06:07
Speaker
And obviously for everybody, It's going to be different. If you're a writer or a or a content creator, it can help you brainstorm ideas, draft up pitch decks, you know help you create um mood scenes and help you transition from plot point A of to part B. If you're in the accounting and audit and tax field, it can do a lot of the heavy lifting and analyzing ASUs, tax cases, tax tax um information.
00:06:36
Speaker
and can help you in the audit process build out implement, and then tweak your audit ah plan as you're doing it on top of all of the sort of regular benefits of having tools that can that can analyze every transaction instantaneously.
00:06:55
Speaker
So I would say that if you are competitive, you ought to be using AI to help you. Now, on the other hand, I also tell people, both in the classroom and out of the classroom,
00:07:09
Speaker
If you're on a call on a podcast at a client site and that client asks you a a question based on that content that was AI helped or in some cases completely created by AI,
00:07:25
Speaker
you have to be able to answer those questions in real time. Not perfectly every time and not in every possible outcome, but you have to be able, and it's only possible if you have the mastery of the information of the process and how you get from point A to point B, you have to be able to have a conversation on that data.
00:07:47
Speaker
So I would say if you're a student, if you're either in school now, in the workforce, or you're out there trying to figure out, do I really have to bother upscaling with AI?
00:08:00
Speaker
I have 25 years of experience. I know what I'm doing. Do I really have to bother? I would say yes, because ultimately, AI is very, very quickly not not being talked about anymore as a emerging technology.
00:08:17
Speaker
It's here. It is table stakes. There are programs all over the country, including at Lehman, that are emphasizing AI usage by students in almost every major.
00:08:30
Speaker
And obviously, Chris, we're on the you know Becker podcast. So I won't talk about my, you friends and colleagues in the ah humanities fields.
00:08:41
Speaker
But for business and STEM and engineering, it's here. It's baseline. And the employers have an expectation now that anybody coming into the workforce is going to have a conversant knowledge on AI and have some examples, some projects, case studies, whatever, as to how they used it in a productive manner.
00:09:04
Speaker
So i I always encourage people to use AI in the manner that it's going to help them and
Identifying AI-Generated Content
00:09:11
Speaker
they feel comfortable with, obviously. like So when I think about using AI and the first thing that comes to mind, especially within academia, is ethics.
00:09:19
Speaker
What does that look like? How do you check for that? How do you make sure that they're not doing something they're not supposed to be doing? Because i was told that there are programs that can interpret, you know, AI responses or papers, so forth and so on.
00:09:35
Speaker
i mean, how does that work within within your field? Sure. So there are any number of tools, pretty much any proctoring software, be it Turnitin, eProctor, any number of those other tools do you have AI now embedded in them too.
00:09:53
Speaker
But ultimately, Chris, you know if you want to make a AI production, be it a paper, be it answers to accounting questions, be it a yeah ah organic chemistry test.
00:10:08
Speaker
If you want to make your AI created answers look human enough, there are also tools to humanize your answers. You're able to give these bots, be it Gemini, examples of your previous writing and have it edit its AI answer to tab at B and then your tone, your tone and your traditional writing style.
00:10:38
Speaker
There are some tells, right? so if So if you're looking at a coding assignment and it has the M dash, Then, and obviously that's become a very well-known ah tell at this point, the M-dash in the code itself.
00:10:54
Speaker
So, and for any written content, what AI has not yet gotten in excellent at is active voice. AI bots across the board tend to write in a passive voice and they don't yet, as of yet, again, in half a year, and a year,
00:11:14
Speaker
It could be out of date. But right now, they tend to write in a passive voice, don't use the first person as well as we do. And there are some tells in how the sentences are structured.
00:11:29
Speaker
Meaning that if you're reading a essay, and just a quick example here off the off the top of my head. If I was to give an assignment to an income tax class asking about why accelerated a d depreciation on CapEx equipment for cannabis operators is a good thing.
00:11:54
Speaker
I'm only going to get content and answers that frame that in a positive light. In that entire answer, be it a page, be it 10 pages, be it 100 pages, the AI across the board will not insert anything to countervail or to push back on the prompt.
00:12:15
Speaker
And so how do we try to navigate this in an educational sense?
Integrating AI into Business Courses
00:12:19
Speaker
Well, there has been conversation on trying to bring black bring back the Blue Book tests.
00:12:28
Speaker
I honestly think that's a non-starter. One, because people don't handwrite anymore, Chris. you know And so i I think at that point, it would be more testing of the handwriting ability of this. and And listen, I have to admit, I have terrible handwriting, but I grew up handwriting answers. But I think that just tests handwriting as opposed to knowledge. and And frankly, cheating also happened back then.
00:12:57
Speaker
So. What I do is in the in the courses that I'm teaching, I've recently introduced a AI content and disclosure policy that every student in my courses has to sign. It's a short one page document that that I have them sign and upload.
00:13:17
Speaker
And basically I say, i encourage you to use AI. I only ask you to do three short things. One, if and when it's used, tell me which AI is used.
00:13:32
Speaker
Two, tell me the prompts you put in to create these answers. And three, include at the end as a separate paragraph, a counterpoint to your original answer, also using AI.
00:13:51
Speaker
Because, and then when we are going over those topics, and I'll pull up one example of a student, go over it in class. And I'll always point out to that earlier point, if you ask it, or rather, if you frame the prompt or the question in a positive manner, that entire first answer, it's all going to be positive.
00:14:14
Speaker
you There aren't going to be any if, buts, or thens in that first answer. And so I try to highlight that to point out that the whole conversation around ethics in AI and biases in AI, it's a lot more, opposed to just talking about racial biases, socioeconomic biases, it's also at a much more deep level.
00:14:40
Speaker
AI wants to make you happy. For now, at least, right? That could always change. But for right now, if you present the question or the problem or the prompt or the instance, in a certain light, you're only going to get content that reinforces that original stance.
00:15:01
Speaker
And so I just try to educate, you know, either in the classroom or at training sessions. I just try to educate through highlighting that fact and showing that it's here.
00:15:14
Speaker
we are going to have to use it, but we have to use it intelligently and be aware of where it is still falling short. You know, when I think about academia and I think about curriculum and the job that you have and making sure that these graduates are successful, what's an ideal so curriculum look like? I know you guys are doing some great things, um but whats what does it look like so the students will know what to be on the lookout for? Because some institutions may not have a program.
00:15:46
Speaker
But yeah what do what do you think is the ideal curriculum? So the ideal curriculum for me Again, staying focused on the business side of things, Chris, is I would say from day one that our courses should have an AI component in there.
00:16:05
Speaker
And how it's used and which tool is used, i don't really care. right but But the courses should have AI integration from day one.
00:16:19
Speaker
And over time, if we're able to do that and we're able to dodge the the trap of just having our students turning in AI answers for everything, which is a tough line to to walk, I will...
00:16:35
Speaker
freely own that fact, I would say that as you advance, like first year, second year, third year, fourth year, that by at the time you're second year, third year, and in the US, that's when your major courses actually kick in, that by the time you are taking intermediate two, cost accounting to auditing two, you should be able to You go to class, hopefully on time, and then for any assignments, papers, ah be able to say, OK, I have this problem set. I have this big data set, this workbook that I have to run analytics on for my audit class.
00:17:17
Speaker
Well, at this point, I've been using Copilot, Gemini, Chat over the last two and a half years. And now I can say, well, I can use Chat to help me draw up a audit ah engagement plan.
00:17:31
Speaker
I can have Copilot do the analytics on this Excel workbook. And then afterwards, I can dump that all into Gemini and have that create a nice two-page executive summary for me to go over.
00:17:45
Speaker
Because ultimately, Chris, that's how it's going in the workforce right now. And there is this time lag. There is this headset difference. I'm not sure what the right phraseology is between what our students are being asked right now.
AI in Education Across All Levels
00:18:04
Speaker
and where most institutions are. And the only way to have that gap be closed in any sort of time ah appropriate manner is to dive in head first, integrate AI into courses.
00:18:19
Speaker
And I know that you know it isn't going to work as well in every single course. But there are, ah guarantee you, weeks, chapters, modules, topics where AI can be integrated or at the very least, the the faculty can show and say, hey, you know four weeks, two, three, and four covering inventory analytics or covering tax prepping or or trying to write a a tax brief.
00:18:49
Speaker
for your client who has a very complicated business ah arrangement. AI can help you do that. And here's how. Now, if our students don't want to do it or they aren't going to do it that way, that is up to them ultimately.
00:19:04
Speaker
But our role as educators and as faculty is to, i think, build AI into the courses at every level. And then at the end, our students have the experience, have the comfort and have the knowledge to use the AI tools, talk about them in a productive business like manner, and three, understand where it is correct to upload data into the AI and where perhaps you are going to want to do that.
00:19:37
Speaker
So you you brought up the three versions, Gemini, Copilot, Chat, and how they're used. Could you expand on that? Because I think the audience needs to understand that we talked about this a bit, there are gains in each and every one of those um tools.
00:19:55
Speaker
And they need to understand that one doesn't work as well as the other if you're trying to you know look at data and parse data and so forth and so on A certain tool does it better, in my opinion. So if you wouldn't mind expanding on that, it'd be great.
00:20:09
Speaker
Sure, Chris.
Preferred AI Tools for Everyday Tasks
00:20:10
Speaker
Absolutely. and And I'm of the exact same mindset. So for instance, for my everyday AI usage, I use ChatGPT because to my mind, it has the most bandwidth, it has the most flexibility, and it is the most...
00:20:30
Speaker
I think ah flexible in terms of the content and the input that I can put into it. i can I can basically talk to it as if I'm talking to a a peer, either via prompts typed out or verbal prompts.
00:20:46
Speaker
And just as a quick anecdote here, I recently, ah it was, I believe back in over the summer, I recently found out that I can turn on the microphone feature on chat and I can talk to it as if I was talking to a peer in the office that can bounce ideas off of it.
00:21:06
Speaker
ah I'll get feedback on certain ideas as they happen. So I like chat for the everyday. Everyday AIB, content creation, editing, tweaking, you know creating content, modifying it, interacting with it.
00:21:20
Speaker
That's the one that that I go to first. Copilot is probably the best way to talk about Copilot is chat GPT with the ah guardrails up, right? Because Copilot, it's embedded into the Microsoft Office suite.
00:21:36
Speaker
So it's a lot easier to use for creating slides, doing Excel analytics, organizing your Outlook calendar, which I know can always be a a um hassle.
00:21:47
Speaker
And so I would say that I use Copilot and I and I'll be honest here, Chris, I only really got into Copilot within the last eight to ten months.
00:21:59
Speaker
Right.
Advantages of AI in Productivity Software
00:22:01
Speaker
I didn't really see the need for Copilot until then, until my institution yeah ah embraced Copilot as part of their MS Office trainings and offerings. And so I said, okay, well, then I'll i'll dive into it and ah I'll play around with it.
00:22:21
Speaker
I found that most helpful for PowerPoint and Excel. And if you're doing access or anything else like that, but but I tend to use it most for Excel and PowerPoint, it's just easier but because it's embedded into Office. It'll work much faster with much less prompting and tweaking as opposed to trying to shoehorn chat into analyzing Excel or to or to try to create slides or update slides via ChatGPT.
00:22:52
Speaker
Now, there are add-ons, obviously, in chat, but I just find it easier and quicker using Copilot for ah office be related tasks.
00:23:05
Speaker
Just me. Now- So when I was thinking about compiling- Yes. Because I heard that it, and for security reasons, some organizations are electing to use it over others.
00:23:17
Speaker
is that true Is that a true statement? and and That it's a safer tool? Because you know I'm like, okay, it's a safer tool. I mean, obviously, you need policy and guidelines around what you key into the system.
00:23:30
Speaker
But that's what I hear. I mean, is there any truth to that? So I would agree with that partially. that That there is this idea, that there is this mindset that Copilot is safer.
00:23:43
Speaker
But... But that doesn't have anything to do with, in my opinion, um the actual functionality of Copilot. That is more a directory reflection of it being embedded into Microsoft.
00:23:57
Speaker
and chris And Chris, we have to be honest here. The people that are at the CTO level, at the C-suite level, are probably more comfortable using a Microsoft-approved product as opposed to some some yeah know a firm called OpenAI or something on Twitter or x.com called Grok.
00:24:22
Speaker
And so there is that too. But I would say that in terms of of being safe, I would say that that you could probably build out internal firewalls and safeguards easier on Copilot.
00:24:36
Speaker
Because again, firms that are implement implementing these tools already have the personnel and the policies and the right um tools in place to build out safeguards around Microsoft products.
00:24:49
Speaker
And Copilot is a ah Microsoft product. So I'd say that's partially true, but it's not so much because of the tool itself. It's it's be because of where it lives.
00:25:00
Speaker
You know, another question that's on my mind is around, know, what about those institutions that don't focus on AI and there's no curriculum?
Learning AI Through Online Courses
00:25:10
Speaker
What can a student do?
00:25:12
Speaker
What's available to them? What should they be researching? What should they be adding to their arsenal to make them as attractive, you know, to corporate? Yeah.
00:25:22
Speaker
And I'm of the headset myself that every institution should have an AI policy and really has an obligation to their students to be trying to integrate AI.
00:25:36
Speaker
But if you're at an institution that either for budgetary reasons, mindset reasons, isn't doing it yet, there are plenty of of options out there.
00:25:47
Speaker
Me personally, just... Anecdotally, I've taken quite a few courses via ah Coursera and they're either free or if you pay 40 bucks.
00:26:00
Speaker
At the end of that course, there's an exam and you earn a shareable badge to post on your social media, LinkedIn. and And that's always my go-to piece of advice that if you're a student and you're curious about ChatGPT, curious about Copilot, curious about AI for marketing, I guarantee you there are courses on Coursera, Khan Academy, or Firmware.
00:26:29
Speaker
Udemy, that are either free or they're almost free. And all of them have the option to have that badge, shareable badge, aka proof of your content and your knowledge of that content at the end. So I i always advise that first. um And there's also quite a bit of good information coming out of companies like OpenAI.
00:26:52
Speaker
and of Twitter or x.com talking about Grok. and And if you pivot over to Alphabet in the form of a Google, they have a lot of free courses that actually show you, the ah course user, how they build out their large language models.
00:27:14
Speaker
So and again, all of these are free or almost free. So there are a lot of resources out there for students that are free or almost free and they're all self-paced.
00:27:26
Speaker
So, you know, do it fast, do it slow, but they're free or almost free, self-paced. And all of them are issued by up and up companies, large institutions, and usually on Coursera, for instance, in partnership with other institutions of higher education.
00:27:45
Speaker
You know, when I think about my coming out of school and I wanted to prepare for my first job, and I know we're talking about accountants and we're talking about, you know, those that have those an accounting degree.
00:27:58
Speaker
But what is that checklist? I'm thinking about that checklist because I'm saying, OK, I need a ah nice new suit because this is way back, by the way. OK, suit, shoes, nice haircut, you know, so forth.
00:28:09
Speaker
As I'm preparing and I'm being a bit facetious, obviously, but and my and as I'm preparing my checklist for AI and how does it aligns with the role or the job that I want, say, for instance, I'm going and I'm going to be an IT person.
00:28:24
Speaker
you know I could be a coder of some sort. Is my checklist different? do i What would be on my checklist, I guess? um Because I would think that I want to know how serious the organization is about AI.
00:28:38
Speaker
So think of it that way. If I'm graduating and I want to prepare and I've got my checklist, what's on that checklist to make sure that I'm successful when I hit that environment?
Questions About AI in Job Interviews
00:28:49
Speaker
Sure. And just anecdotally, Chris, you know, you know, there is nothing wrong with a nice new suit, crisp, crisp tie and some nice Cole Han shoes. There is nothing wrong with that. OK, just to get that out there. OK.
00:29:04
Speaker
But in in terms of the checklist that I would. ah advise students to have because we covered the the courses that I would structure, how they can um upgrade their own knowledge on their own.
00:29:21
Speaker
But really, to your point, this AI checklist, it's an opportunity to because during every interview, the interviewer asks you, Do you have any questions for us?
00:29:32
Speaker
And here is a great time to have your short list of questions because AI, it's going to be something that is going to impact jobs for the foreseeable future. And so you ah I'd say the first question is, do you have an AI policy for the IT t division or the accounting division?
00:29:52
Speaker
Do you have an i policy ah excuse me a AI policy? two What recent investments has the company made into AI? Be it training, be it programs, be it bringing in ah outside speakers.
00:30:08
Speaker
Three, have there been any major problems with AI at the company? Either internally, now obviously the interviewers aren't going to give you too much depth on that, or or have there been problems AI?
00:30:23
Speaker
in the industry by unethical firms trying to use AI, whether internally or for external client purposes. And to round out these questions, I would say, does the company have a three to five-year plan for AI integration and AI growth?
00:30:44
Speaker
And then if you have time, if the Interviewers are open to this. Ask, is there any public facing information as to how the company is is currently using AI and its aspirations for AI going forward?
00:31:02
Speaker
You know, when I think about hitting the walls of ah of a new organization, okay, and i'm you're often not thinking about upscaling because I just graduated. You know, I'm trying to learn the business. I'm trying to learn what I'm responsible for doing. I'm trying to fill out a work paper, you know, so there's a lot going on that I'm preoccupied with.
00:31:21
Speaker
But I also think about building expertise because I think about, you know, upscaling and how do I, what is my goal? I guess, what does my plan look like? Soon as I hit the walls, what does my plan look like so I can continue to grow as relates to AI?
00:31:37
Speaker
are there Is there some type of you know recommended plan that you'd have that, hey, this is what you should be doing? Because I would think that everyone, some of the things you mentioned just a few minutes ago make sense, but Once you understand the business, you should be trying to figure out how you're going to incorporate AI and making you better at delivering whatever you're going to deliver.
00:31:57
Speaker
If I'm poor at writing emails, maybe I use it to write a better email. I don't know. But if I'm not as good at Excel and I needed to do a final peruse and make sure I've got some of the the nice, you know, niceties included within that spreadsheet, then I need to do that.
00:32:12
Speaker
What do you think that looks like as I continue my journey and my growth, as really say, to make sure that I'm standing out or a bit above the rest?
Developing AI Skills and Networking
00:32:23
Speaker
So I would say there are probably three action steps that I would.
00:32:29
Speaker
That I would advise. really anybody. One is to, from day 10 or day 20, right? but Because obviously you have to go to benefits and HR and all that, right? But ah as soon as you're up and running in the company, try to figure out how they're using AI, what the policies are, how they're using it, who is using it, and then go and talk to those people, right? Go and talk to those people, obviously do so in the you know correct you know hierarchy and all the rest, but but do everything you can to get in the room on the projects, on the calls with the people who are using AI, because I guarantee you those people are
00:33:11
Speaker
one going to be moving up in the firm or they're going to be in higher positions elsewhere. So either way, you're building either your internal network at the firm or your business network outside.
00:33:25
Speaker
Two, Try it out, right? Try out AI, be drafting emails, doing analytics, doing dashboards, try it out, and then actually see how it looks, right? To see if I'm using AI the right way, b be good.
00:33:43
Speaker
ah the last thing you want is to be trying to use AI, upscale it, and have it be helping you, you think, augment your own weak points, and then just having it make things worse.
00:33:56
Speaker
So test it, tweak it. Again, bounce the ideas off of the people that are inside the company using AI. And then three, and volunteer, raise your hand,
00:34:07
Speaker
for projects that need people to use AI and to experiment with AI. Or conversely, if your company is onboarding a client that is using AI, which guarantee is going to happen, volunteer to be on that engagement.
00:34:25
Speaker
Volunteer to be part of those conversations because AI is a tool and then it's a mindset, right? Both. right? Because audit standards, that's information, right? Taxes is more of an art sometimes.
00:34:41
Speaker
um But AI, it's the it's the tools themselves. And it's the mindset of the people who are proactively trying to use it. So I would say network with the people who are using it, try to integrate it into your own practices and see what at this point you are good at using AI for.
00:35:01
Speaker
And then three, raise your hand, hit your shoulder, get on the projects, get in the conversations that have AI in it because everything else is gonna be number two or below to AI projects, AI integration, or if you're in the advisory arm, all of those clients are gonna be trying to integrate AI and they're gonna be having all kinds of problems.
00:35:31
Speaker
And so any firm out there is going to be desperate for anybody who at who at least has the interest and the motivation. So I'd say doing those three steps, hopefully in that order, um would be a good ah roadmap to get yourself in the right rooms and in the right mindset to to continuously upscale your own knowledge.
00:35:56
Speaker
And hey, you know If after all that, after yeah five years at the company, they aren't treating you well, great. You have all these examples of AI competence in projects, and there're and there are going to be plenty of other firms happy to hire you.
00:36:14
Speaker
You know, this is a question that I have, and I'm just curious because I know that um in academia, you know, professors are put in a position where they're always on point and you need to know about the latest and the greatest.
AI Training for Educators
00:36:28
Speaker
What's your training? And I know you I didn't share this with, what's the training look like for someone in your position as it relates to AI? What did the university offer up to you? I'm just curious. Sure.
00:36:39
Speaker
So at so at my institution, right? Because I'm at Lehman College, but Lehman College is part of a much bigger university network. So at CUNY, they have, in all honesty, been doing quite a a bit over the last, I'd say, two to two and a half years on AI training, just AI training on how to use it, how to talk to your students about it, how to integrate it into your courses.
00:37:08
Speaker
Now, granted, our training probably is not as in-depth as the i essay trainings that I would do or that firms would do for people trying to use AI for accounting or for taxes. but But in all honesty, they have done quite a bit to trying to, at a general level, upskill the comfort and knowledge of the faculty, the staff, all of our support services people to at least to be comfortable talking about AI and to know what the conversations are.
00:37:40
Speaker
Even if you as faculty, staff, or a support person, don't don't buy into it, that's fine. But all of us have to know what's going on at the institution at large and how our students are actually using AI.
00:37:57
Speaker
So yeah, I mean, in all honesty, they have they have ah implemented quite a bit of stuff. um But obviously, we are a large institution. Actually, but CUNY is the largest urban university system in the U.S. So there's plenty of resources and people and energy there.
00:38:16
Speaker
You know, and this is in as we wrap this up, I've got one more question. and I always ask this question. What's that one takeaway? Because we've got this audience, we've got students, we've got folks that are entering ah the workforce trying to figure it out.
00:38:30
Speaker
They think, well, is AI really all that important? It absolutely is. It's a very competitive environment as it is. So the more you can. arm yourself, okay, and in and amping up your skill set, you're going to be better off for it. So what's that one takeaway? what What's that one lead behind that you have for this audience as they you know exit or enter university or however you see it um as it relates to AI and how it can help them be more successful?
Enhancing Productivity and Creativity with AI
00:38:58
Speaker
However you want to share.
00:39:00
Speaker
Sure. So probably my main takeaway that I've that um been tossing around lately, Chris, is that AI has the ability to elevate you to levels of production, of quality, of content that in the past were only accessible to the most high-ranking people at the biggest companies.
00:39:29
Speaker
You now have an army of entrepreneurs, of editors, of interns at at your fingertips to help you do anything. And so it's just up to you to figure out how best to use them.
00:39:42
Speaker
But AI has the tool to elevate you, to help you grow to levels and heights that previously weren't even possible. As always, Dr. Sean Stein-Smith, you did a fantastic yeah job of sharing information.
00:39:59
Speaker
And I thank you for your time because I know you're a busy man. So I really want you to know that we appreciate you, Ed Becker. And ah thank you. Absolutely, Chris. Pleasure to be here with you. Awesome. I'm going to look in the camera like I always do, and I'm going to share this for those that are coming up and through the ranks.
00:40:14
Speaker
AI is for real. You need to make sure that you're prepared. It starts at your university. Ask the tough questions. Don't let it just go by and think that you can deliver the same way you've always delivered.
00:40:26
Speaker
Other students are using AI. Workers are using AI. We can level up because we know how to use it. So take advantage of it. So that would be my one takeaway. Thank you for being a part of this conversation.
00:40:39
Speaker
And I look forward to seeing you on the next episode of Balancing the Future.