The "Lecture Series on Information" was held on July 1, 2026 (Wednesday) at Hiyoshi Campus by the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Research Center for the Liberal Arts. That day marked the third session in the series for the current academic year, and President Kohei Itoh delivered a lecture on the university¡¯s "AI-Native University" Initiative, with about 70 students, faculty members, and staff members in attendance.
In the lecture at the first half of the event, President Itoh presented the road taken thus far in the university¡¯s use of AI for teaching and research¡ªsince the adoption of the "Innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hospital System" initiative under the Cabinet Office¡¯s Cross-Ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) in 2018¡ªand spoke about what lies ahead. President Itoh explained the objective of realizing a top-class "AI-Native University" for students, researchers, and staff. He laid out the university¡¯s orientation toward being a space for cultivating talent that are not merely "users" but also "makers" of AI technologies, while touching on the specific efforts made by the AI and Advanced Programming Consortium (AIC) as well as Hiyoshi Campus¡¯ Generative AI Lab and ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ AI Research Center.
In the Q&A at the second half, the participants came forward with a spirited set of views and questions. The participants posed questions like "how should we let more people know about AI resources on campus?" and "what should we be careful of when using AI to learn?" in addition to requesting for AI literacy to be taken into account in course evaluations. One participant commented on the atmosphere in their classroom, stating that "since the proliferation of AI, students increasingly enter a discussion after looking up opinions that an AI model has come up with; wouldn't there be a decline in the kinds of intense intellectual discussions that we used to have?"
In response, President Itoh reiterated the unchanging importance of creating an "atmosphere of a diversity of ideas and contending views" facing off each other in debate, even in the age of AI. The event was a valuable opportunity for all participants, each with their unique perspective, to think about how we can engage with AI and learn in the years moving forward.
Photo: Takeshi Kishi