HONOLULU (KHON2) — Mid Pacific Institute has a new employee – but not a human one.
Mike is the new virtual engagement officer and is empowered entirely by AI, where his main duties will be to answer questions and share updates with students, families, and alumni through email and text.
“A lot of people these days, as we all know, are becoming more and more comfortable engaging this way (texting) versus this way (phone),” said Shannon Cleary, Mid-Pacific VP for Institutional Advancement. “So we’re just trying to be the thing that we say that our school is in the classroom. We take great pride in being innovators and embracing AI when it comes to teaching and learning.”
But Mike isn’t the first time that Mid Pacific has tried to dabble in AI usage. They say ever since the early days of ChatGPT, they’ve been looking to positively educate students on its usage, and find ways to utilize it as well.
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“You don’t want to just share with students that you can use AI as an idea collaborator, or you can use AI as an analysis or an editor or a co-creator…” said Brian Grantham, Mid-Pacific Director of Educational Technology. “We want to be able to demonstrate to the kids the ethical ways of using AI appropriately. And so this Mike is a really good example of institutional advancement office leveraging this technology.”
The school says that the new AI hire is not in any way attempting to replace human staff, but rather finding ways to engage with the community efficiently, and without extending manpower.
“You have to try, and you have to take that step forward. That’s a lot of taking the step into the world of AI,” said Cleary. “Our work is always going to be human-centered. So it’s the human throughout the core of this, and there aren’t enough humans to really give the attention and engage with the sheer number of people in our greater Mid-Pacific community.
Mike’s first day of work starts on Thursday, Sept. 25.
“By engaging with me, you’re not only supporting Mid-Pacific’s pioneering leadership and AI for social good, you’re also supporting an innovation that will empower all nonprofits who’s missions are changing the world,” said Mike in his introductory video.