AI Everywhere: How San José State University Empowers Students and Educators - Ep. 275

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 Hello and welcome to the Nvidia AI podcast. I'm your host, Noah Krabitz. Over the course

spk_0 of almost 170 years since its founding as California's first public university, San Jose

spk_0 State University has evolved into the anchor of the 10th largest city in the United States.

spk_0 One of the nation's leading public universities and holder of the title Silicon Valley's

spk_0 public university, which as we'll talk about over the next half hour or so, is really a vital

spk_0 and fascinating place to be right now. Since January of 2023, our guest has led SJSU through what's

spk_0 turned out to be quite an eventful few years broadly speaking. Dr. Cynthia Tenante Mattsin is the 31st

spk_0 president of San Jose State and its first Latina president. Dr. Tenante Mattsin is an

spk_0 internationally recognized Latina leader with extensive executive experience across multiple

spk_0 state university systems. And she's known as a champion for student success, institutional

spk_0 innovation, and industry partnerships that drive economic mobility. I'm delighted for the chance

spk_0 to speak with her. So Dr. Tenante Mattsin, Cynthia, welcome and thanks so much for joining the podcast.

spk_0 It's great to be here today. So let's start with your role. What brought you to San Jose State?

spk_0 We live in interesting times as the saying goes and you join San Jose State at really a pivotal time.

spk_0 What called you to the role and how has your own journey before this shaped your vision for what

spk_0 you want to bring to the SJSU community? So I'm a returner to California and the California

spk_0 State University system. I'm a native Texan. I was born in San Antonio, but like many people of

spk_0 that era and generation, my parents moved out to California when I was a small child for better

spk_0 opportunities. And that has really shaped and influenced my thinking about coming to San Jose State

spk_0 in particular of the incredible opportunity that exists not only in Silicon Valley, but as Silicon

spk_0 Valley's public university. So when I arrived back in January of 2023, the whole CHAPGBT Open AI

spk_0 explosion was just occurring. And it's just happening. San Jose State was in the middle of some

spk_0 of that in terms of already having launched by that time a master's in artificial intelligence

spk_0 and really already starting to build this coursework and this research across our institutional

spk_0 organization. So for me to come forward in the new leadership role, there was a lot of dynamic

spk_0 issues that we were addressing at the time, but from a curricular perspective, really ensuring that

spk_0 we understood our role in this catalytic geography has driven the vision for institutional priorities

spk_0 and continued academic program growth. And I think you know, Noah, over this 25, 30 months,

spk_0 we've had much recognition, the Wall Street Journal, named San Jose State, the number four public

spk_0 university in the US, and code signal recently ranked our university software engineers amongst

spk_0 the best, beating out some of the private universities in the region and other public universities

spk_0 in the region. That's fantastic. Congratulations. Yeah, there's just a number of other rankings and

spk_0 ratings that are generated by third party sources that continuously point to the excellence at San

spk_0 Jose State. And I think our prominence in our position now as a national partner to so many

spk_0 tech companies, including you know, being on your show today, but partnering with NVIDIA,

spk_0 in what that means. So our vision is largely driven by living and breathing in the epicenter of

spk_0 the future and how we prepare our graduates to be in the epicenter of the future. And I jokingly

spk_0 say that future started yesterday. Right. Really about what's going on tomorrow. It industries that

spk_0 we are now at the center of. Well, I can say anecdotally, I work very closely with NESTJSU

spk_0 graduate at NVIDIA and they're the best. So doing something right 100%.

spk_0 You mentioned in the introduction, you're the first Latina to lead the university. How to

spk_0 representation and your own lived experience, guide your approach to leadership, to education.

spk_0 At San Jose State, but you mentioned you grew up in Texas. You were a president in the Texas

spk_0 higher ed system before coming returning to California, like you said. So can you talk a little bit

spk_0 about how your own experiences inspire your approach? So I as a first generation college graduate

spk_0 and a first generation president, I think about the significance of being a visible role model

spk_0 for all students, but particular students who might identify with my ethnic or gender or

spk_0 background or experiences in whatever way people make these intersectional connections.

spk_0 So I spend time being available and accessible to students, to people in our community,

spk_0 and to other industry partners around ensuring everyone has opportunities to be successful

spk_0 in coming to a public university like San Jose State and in whatever career paths that they

spk_0 explore. So perform a leadership perspective, a large part of this approach and strategies about

spk_0 being visible, being accessible. Both for good and bad, I have, you know, get positive feedback,

spk_0 I get I know when something is on a person's mind because they reach out and let me know, which is

spk_0 a wonderful way for us to be able to lead and ensure everyone is seen and heard. So as a Latina,

spk_0 I also try to spend time with other Latina or Latino students in addition to everybody else

spk_0 do I have an opportunity to just talk and connect with them. So I do that informally out on the

spk_0 place here. I might show up in classes. I go to lots of events where students of all

spk_0 types will be. Just last night I was at an event called Welcome Black that was hosted by the African

spk_0 American Community Services Agency here in downtown San Jose where some of our student leaders

spk_0 and faculty and staff leaders helping again all students, but this was an emphasis on those students

spk_0 who identify or are interested in the black and African American experience and it was wonderful.

spk_0 And I was reminded when I was there of the executive director said to me, you're the only

spk_0 president that has ever come to our agency and this wasn't my first visit. So being present and

spk_0 being miserable and helping everyone understand that this is a pathway for you comes from the old

spk_0 saying you have to see it to be it and that's part of how I think about leading.

spk_0 Yeah, that's great. You touched on a few things that kind of relate back to kind of where I want

spk_0 to take the conversation next, which is you mentioned taking office just after Chats GPT was released,

spk_0 just a couple of months after in the beginning of this explosion. And as you said, San Jose State has

spk_0 offered a master's in AI, you know, previous to Chats GPT. The industry has been around prior to

spk_0 Chats GPT, but really a really eventful past couple of years for technology technologies impact on

spk_0 education, higher education in particular, thinking about the workforce and what jobs of the

spk_0 future will look like. How do you think about shaping maybe even reimagining the traditional

spk_0 university model to do what you were just saying to make sure that that every student, you know,

spk_0 not only has a voice, but is being exposed to what they need to be exposed to, you know, AI

spk_0 literacy, other things that might be, if not novel, at least more prevalent in the day to day,

spk_0 at San Jose State being, you know, right in the heart of Silicon Valley. As it is, how do you think

spk_0 about the university model of the future, you know, given all of what's happening with technology

spk_0 in particular? Well, I think one of the interesting things about this moment is the pace.

spk_0 When we have dealt with change before, we've dealt with new technologies before,

spk_0 but this rapid adaptation of the AI products that are intersecting with our work and our personal

spk_0 lives is faster than anything we've seen before. And then on top of that, the evolution of the

spk_0 technologies because of the faster processing units, things like GPU and meeting new products that

spk_0 are being launched by Nvidia, it is allowing this industry to move faster and solve problems in a

spk_0 way that we have never imagined before. You have two things going on at the same time, right? The

spk_0 acceleration of the new tools and then the acceleration of the technology that's making problem solving

spk_0 happen even faster and invention happen, innovation happen even faster. So how we are thinking about

spk_0 this at San Jose State is first of all, ensuring every student at the point of entry has AI

spk_0 development and literacy in their orientation. So building this into orientation, building in

spk_0 the ability to learn and use tools into their first experience because like the rest of society,

spk_0 it is still emerging. So at San Jose State, just like in the workplace, the speed of adaptation

spk_0 is different. If you're in our engineering and computer science programs, they're very far ahead.

spk_0 And that is really a competitive advantage for our students. And the experiences that they have

spk_0 when they come into our programs because they are placed in, you know, vibrant tech companies

spk_0 or companies that are doing manufacturing, a bit tight around the technology industry.

spk_0 And a much faster pace just because we're right here with them and they're very connected with

spk_0 our faculty. That is truly a competitive advantage, which has driven that curricular development ahead of

spk_0 when everyone else learned to spell AI, right? In the other courses though, I will tell you, we have

spk_0 AI influences in our design. We have AI influences in all of our programs. Education,

spk_0 one of the questions I often ask is who's teaching the kindergarten teachers. So in our education

spk_0 programs, we are developing and have been modeling programs around building AI into pedagogy so that

spk_0 your children are being taught by teachers who are learning how to infuse AI into their course

spk_0 curriculum in their school and high school. So in everything in between. Now at the same time,

spk_0 we're wrestling with how do we ensure ethically, socially responsible use into the curriculum,

spk_0 into thinking, into learning, into teaching. And so what does teaching look like today with the

spk_0 tools? And we're in this murky middle, right? So you have people over here in engineering and

spk_0 computer science and companies like Nvidia that are very ahead of the group. They're reading the way

spk_0 and then you have sort of everything else catching up. And in that catching up, part of it is

spk_0 learning by using the tools themselves and doing case studies and doing assessment and doing

spk_0 research to determine how all of this is impacting our lives. San Jose is at the front of this work.

spk_0 And I would also say in terms of business incubation, which is the other piece that's really

spk_0 exploding is how do we leverage and capitalize on all of this new development using AI.

spk_0 The city of San Jose under a mayor, Matt Mayhands leadership has really been focused on anchoring

spk_0 our city as the capital of AI as well as capital of Silicon Valley, right? So the new business

spk_0 incubation center by plug and play is literally two to three minute walk from our campus. We have our

spk_0 own incubator work on our campus that's built in through our innovation team and our curricular

spk_0 teams. And so we have reorganized and restructured our own incubation to be better responsive,

spk_0 more rapid response to what's happening around us, but also to have this pathway to program site

spk_0 plug and play. So Noah, you asked me a question that has so many constellations of connectivity

spk_0 that it is just everywhere in what we're doing. Now, let me be clear, you know, there are faculty

spk_0 members who don't think we should be using AI in the classroom. Okay. They're still trying to figure

spk_0 out how to do this without supporting cheating or supporting all yourism. And we're wrestling with

spk_0 those concepts around ethical, social, responsible use. And that I think is the tension point that

spk_0 we're experiencing as a country that we're experiencing as a society and also experiencing

spk_0 in our classrooms. Back at the beginning of my career, I was a teacher for a handful of years,

spk_0 taught K-12 level and technology related, you know, basic computer skills, that kind of thing.

spk_0 And this was in the late 90s, mid to late 90s, just before the first comm boom. And I remember at

spk_0 the time, and particularly when I left teaching and got more into technology industry jobs,

spk_0 thinking about the impact of the internet and what would that have on how we teach now we learn.

spk_0 And if, you know, instead of having to memorize facts, learning how to go find them, and it's a

spk_0 faster process. And maybe you have more brain power leftover for doing stuff with that information.

spk_0 I think about parallels to what's happening now, all the fewer around, you know, again,

spk_0 right around when you took the presidency, GPT coming out and there were, you know, stories of

spk_0 different places in the US and globally, but in the US school districts banning chat GPT or,

spk_0 you know, that kind of thing. It sounds like, you know, as you were saying, their faculty members

spk_0 wrestling with it and you're working with them and kind of grappling with it as a whole,

spk_0 but that the approach is to introduce, to expose, to have these conversations around them.

spk_0 You mentioned, and I had heard about, introducing digital twins and AI avatars to the campus community,

spk_0 something that you did. Can you talk a little bit about that project, that experience, and then

spk_0 in particular, how students have reacted and how that kind of shapes your, you know, your interactions

spk_0 with them, obviously, but the university's approach to using these new technologies as you go.

spk_0 So we're integrating AI into everything. I love your reference to the internet, you know, when

spk_0 Google was introduced, right, that we are moving through this generative, or the society of

spk_0 a retrieval to generative, right? And students, young people always figure it out, you know,

spk_0 the internet, to YouTube, to many, a TikTok, you know, everything in between how learning a discovery

spk_0 occurs. And so for San Jose State, I believe we need to lean into it pretty extensively and integrate

spk_0 into everything we're doing, which includes our administrative processes. So, you know, high school

spk_0 students are coming to us, transfer students are coming to us, expecting to be able to use things

spk_0 like they're using in their practical applications. And so we, I, our team, our office team,

spk_0 really wanted to continue to be ahead of this. So I use many of the tools, AI tools,

spk_0 generative tools on a daily basis. And that has helped me inform and build my own custom GKT

spk_0 and the life to help me reward vision in my work. So at the risk of interrupting you, do you have,

spk_0 I was going to ask you any favorites to share with the audience? Well, I'm new,

spk_0 several, okay, with our instructional design team, they helped me build my GBT with all of my

spk_0 most important work that helps me shape how I can be more productive. And that, the internet

spk_0 itself, as you know, is an iterative process in figuring out how this works because the technology

spk_0 gets smarter with you and predicting you when you give it who you are. So building that custom GBT

spk_0 is another way to build our own portfolio of work. Right, very cool. And I'll come back to

spk_0 that in a moment with the school shoe bit. But let me say to you that part of this was also one of my

spk_0 foundation board members suggested to me that I consider a building an avatar and let me know the

spk_0 company that he was using. And so my team did it. We went out and created a custom avatar, you know,

spk_0 not to be confused with deep fakes. Right, right. This is intentional. Yep.

spk_0 Intentional twinning. And we released her, actually she made her debut. It's me, but I call her

spk_0 her chic. We made her debut at Adobe, actually, at Adobe Design Challenge. Oh, cool. And then I

spk_0 introduced her to the campus later. And this full spectrum of this is great. Thank you for

spk_0 leading the way to why are you doing this? And who asked for this and how much should it cost?

spk_0 And do it. And why can't I do this in my classroom? So there was a number of really thought provoking

spk_0 responses that my AI avatar produces. Now what I love about the AI avatar and why I did it is I

spk_0 wanted to be as I said earlier, accessible, more accessible. So the avatar can speak 125 languages.

spk_0 I cannot. So this and we, you know, the city of San Jose is one of the top five cities with

spk_0 residents that were not born in the United States. And so I need to be able to communicate in

spk_0 languages that I don't. Sure. And also as students are making decisions about where they attend

spk_0 college and their parents are helping them make these decisions, I wanted to be able to communicate

spk_0 with them more personally. And the AI avatar allows me to do all of those things in multiple languages.

spk_0 So that was my business need for wanting to create the avatar. But like I said, it created quite

spk_0 the conversation. I want to come back to your question about which tool we're using.

spk_0 As you know, or maybe you've heard, the California State University entered into a system-wide

spk_0 partnership with OpenAI. Right. And every student, faculty member and staff has access to

spk_0 chatchipt.edu. Okay. So I have been extensively using chatchipt through that partnership,

spk_0 which was announced last February, that is available to all of our community. I use some of the other

spk_0 tools, use different tools for different reasons, right? And but I'm using chatchipt quite a bit now

spk_0 and have my custom GPT developed there. In our faculty development center, we have had for several

spk_0 years now, faculty development engagement using multiple tools. And we have a lot of peer training

spk_0 going on from faculty to faculty in case studies, use cases, which is the big buzz word on how to

spk_0 best be efficient is one of the use cases for using the various tools. And so we're doing a lot of

spk_0 use cases and helping upscale across the community. Are there specific areas that have faculty

spk_0 and or students have kind of shown the most interest kind of curiosity in exploring when it comes to

spk_0 using the AI tools? I think it's across the board. Yeah. Okay. I've talked to students who have had

spk_0 assignments of which they build models that might be solving a policy problem and they have to

spk_0 interject, you know, the legal perspective, a stakeholder perspective and technistic perspective.

spk_0 And they put all this into the AI tool and that helps them to develop a solution. It's an iterative

spk_0 process, but the tool may be helping them think of perspectives that they might not have thought of

spk_0 and then they have to respond to it. More faculty that are building programs in that way, right?

spk_0 Flipping it. How do you use it? Right. Yeah. There are some students who are using the tools that I've

spk_0 talked to for study guides. There are some students that are using the tools for for straps. I think

spk_0 however we use the tools, it's important if we're going to be writing about things or communicating

spk_0 that we're citing references and saying, you know, this this was cold developed based on

spk_0 whatever sort of information they might have retrieved from the instrument and also to validate it

spk_0 and because know these hallucinations exist, but as time goes on, the hallucinations are diminishing,

spk_0 especially if you're building your own custom GPPs. It doesn't mean mistakes are going to happen.

spk_0 Sure. But that's as I say to students regularly, Noah and faculty and staff,

spk_0 you are still the human in the loop. We're not trying to replace the human in the loop. We're

spk_0 your co-pilot or your your assistant that you are directing. That's how we talk about it and use

spk_0 it as well. And from my own experiences, as I was listening to you describe,

spk_0 the approach and these processes and the importance of things like citing information sources

spk_0 and everything, it's the same way that I do my work when I'm doing writing or I'm preparing for

spk_0 podcasts. And again, it makes me think about the original rise of the web and the importance

spk_0 that it kind of shown a spotlight on the importance of media literacy, that right? And in the same way,

spk_0 well, here are my sources, but is this a reputable news outlet or is this, you know, some guy named Noah

spk_0 and is you know, it is basement on his computer, right? That kind of thing. It's not quite the same.

spk_0 And I think you're astute to point out, you know, that the influence of pace, both the pace that the

spk_0 tools are being created and the pace that they're being adopted and neither one of those is

spk_0 slightly down for the other. And it just makes this, you know, everything all at once and kind of

spk_0 a hyper scale mode. Well, you know, Noah, the state of California, Governor Newsom,

spk_0 has announced a partnership with the California State University and several tech leaders

spk_0 that many of the major tech firms, if not all of them, to ensure that California remains competitive

spk_0 in AI innovation economy. And the California State University has created a workforce acceleration

spk_0 board that is consistent workforce leaders, tech leaders and university leaders and state of

spk_0 California leaders to think about opportunities to work together in things like metrics, what are

spk_0 workforce challenges, how are we ensuring success for holistic workforce readiness and development

spk_0 from students who are coming through either K through 12 and coming into the university,

spk_0 community college or university to being ready for the workforce is a holistic experience.

spk_0 And I think we both know that right now in this job market that that first job now looks different

spk_0 here in San Jose for sure. Yeah. Did even a year ago or two years ago. And so we have to rapidly

spk_0 keep up with this. And that's why I think the knowledge of the tools and how GPPs and the manufacturing

spk_0 components are working to your point about pace, students have to be ready for that. And when I

spk_0 put the tech CEOs from various sectors, they are expecting San Jose State graduate to come into

spk_0 the workforce ready to contribute on day one. And that means a lot around the tech side, but also in

spk_0 their communication skills and their literacy and their ability to make sense of things that are

spk_0 coming at them so they can be effective problem solvers in team players in most companies. So that

spk_0 makes our work at a public university here in Silicon Valley even more important while we're keeping

spk_0 up with all these other technological advances. But the state of California has really embraced that

spk_0 in a way that is different from other places. And a lot of this is validated in things you and I

spk_0 read every day from the Brookings reports to the Reese's study from Stanford about how AI is being

spk_0 used in the workplace. And you know the fact that the saturation is here in the Bay Area and San

spk_0 Jose in particular. Right. People send a whole different place. And that's what I love about

spk_0 the work we're doing within video. As we think about twinning, you know, you ask me about

spk_0 we're really thinking about with our city. We're working towards creating a digital twin using

spk_0 the omniverse product from in the of San Jose to twin the city. Fantastic. Yeah. Have our faculty

spk_0 who have now are going to actively going to professional development to learn to use the omniverse

spk_0 tools in particular. So they're teaching students how to do this as they'll be building out that

spk_0 twin in our public library, which is accessible to all citizens and all residents of our community.

spk_0 So our job is to stay focused not only on development, but also thinking about social and civic

spk_0 good and how we can be in those areas along with what the governor is looking at per state workforce

spk_0 competitiveness, what our mayor is looking at for solving civic and social good problems,

spk_0 and what we at San Jose state are looking at and ensuring our students are prepared for this broad

spk_0 array of opportunities in the workforce. And in video has been a tremendous partner with us in

spk_0 that work like the GTC conference, you know, this last March we did a watch party for GTC.

spk_0 And it was a game changer for students. How so? Well, first of all, Invidia brought full stop

spk_0 to the university here at our prominent events center. Of course. I walked in there. I didn't

spk_0 recognize the place. Yeah. The Invidia, the logo, they brought all the technology. It was

spk_0 truly like their CEO, Jensen Wong was in the room. The technology was that good. It was almost

spk_0 fantastic. It wasn't, but it was almost like one. But here's the thing Invidia as a part of that GTC

spk_0 conference hosted a career panel on campus. They opened this up to all the region. All the region.

spk_0 We had over 3,000 students sitting there for over two hours, captivated by this technology rock star

spk_0 moment. It's AI career panel followed by the CEOs talk that he did up the street here at SAP

spk_0 center. And then the kicker, they gave a drawing for five GPUs that were signed by the CEO, Jensen

spk_0 Wong. Very nice. So it was, this isn't an epitomizes what it means to be in our geography and

spk_0 preparing views to understand to get a glimpse of, you know, anybody that watches any of Jensen Wong's

spk_0 talks, his video cast, you get the sense of where how far ahead the company is and how they're

spk_0 thinking about all these technologies. And that's what we need our students to understand going,

spk_0 going into that. But Invidia is not the only one obviously cadence synopsis. Many other companies

spk_0 do their conventions here. Yes, yeah. And we have an opportunity to hear from their CEOs. Yeah.

spk_0 But it matters what's happening is matters. And, you know, where we started about visible role models,

spk_0 accessible. This is for you. We want you to be ready for this world of innovation that's occurring

spk_0 around us. And so as you were speaking, I was again, there were, you know, a few different questions

spk_0 under the umbrella of workforce preparedness and future economy and the AI driven economy and

spk_0 how you prepare students for that. And I was, you know, you were kind of addressing them as you

spk_0 spoke. And it made me wonder in the career panel you mentioned, the students being held

spk_0 wrapped for two hours, you know, listening, what were they hearing or maybe, you know, sort of

spk_0 more importantly for this conversation, what were they asking? What are the students, what are

spk_0 the families? What are, you know, the faculty members on their behalf? What are they thinking about,

spk_0 concerned about excited about when it comes to, you know, this new economy and finding that first

spk_0 job and the first job looking different and all of that. So there's a number of AI

spk_0 influence career centered activities that are occurring in San Jose. Okay. And I think that's

spk_0 a competitive advantage that we have. So GTC is one of them, but with many other companies,

spk_0 along with just our own internal resources, holding these kinds of conversations with mentors and

spk_0 sponsors who are all in the various tech companies around the Silicon Valley that are also in many

spk_0 cases San Jose state graduates, but not necessarily early. So the trepidation exists. And so students

spk_0 get an opportunity to come in. They're asking how do I get prepared? Right. What are you looking for?

spk_0 And you know, Noah, besides the technical proficiency, it's still, are my good problem solver

spk_0 and my curious, can I communicate? And the basic hygiene up, can I get to work on time? When I hold up

spk_0 my responsibilities as a solid employee, you know, a good citizen of the company, wherever I end up,

spk_0 some of those things get reiterated that all of these other parts of who you are still matter.

spk_0 But being prepared for this world of change and you as a human being, showing up as your authentic

spk_0 self to create this future that doesn't yet exist is part of what we, is reinforced back to our

spk_0 students. But there is some degree of technical proficiency that's, that's going to be required.

spk_0 And some degree of understanding how the tools work, even if you're not designing and building it,

spk_0 you understand the logic models to create effective props to manage your life, to manage your

spk_0 projects, to manage your work. Now, not everyone that graduates from San Jose state is going to be an

spk_0 engineer or computer scientist. So there are, they hire from all of our disciplines, our sociologists,

spk_0 our psychologists, our business school, they work at human resources, they work in accounting,

spk_0 they work in finance, they work in marketing, they work in sales, and training, and development.

spk_0 So there's, and a whole ecosystem. And then in the nonprofit business, the nonprofits also are looking

spk_0 for our graduates to have a competitive advantage to understand how to use AI and offices and work

spk_0 that's often mean and under resource. Right. That, that idea of AI being a superpower,

spk_0 nonprofits, absolutely, they could use it. So it's everywhere. And that's really part of what

spk_0 we're telling our community is that yes, engineering and tech is one element, but it's not the only one.

spk_0 That's why we're embedding AI into everything we're doing in the social sciences,

spk_0 business school, humanities, and the arts, education, and the like. Fantastic. How do you think

spk_0 about the use of AI for social good and, you know, San Jose's mission and values. And then just

spk_0 in general, you were talking about being a human being and the notion of tools being tools,

spk_0 and they're somewhat agnostic, and it's how we choose to use them that really makes the impact.

spk_0 How does San Jose state, you know, sort of influence and drive the discussion around AI and social good?

spk_0 So part of the social good is understanding who our consumers are. And I think about social good

spk_0 as we think about municipalities, right. So cities, counties, state,

spk_0 employees, university employees, we're public workers. We work for the public good. And so part,

spk_0 it starts with are we in the public good, knowledgeable? So the upskilling component.

spk_0 We have worked with funders, philanthropic organizations, and it helped fund our university

spk_0 to work with our local cities, our local city, San Jose in particular, to upskill, to create

spk_0 curriculum that allows us to upskill so that we're developing solutions for common problems.

spk_0 That's why the digital twinning opportunity to twin the city is so important. So we can get ahead

spk_0 of things that are everyday life challenges like it's the bus on time. Where are there major

spk_0 children and the like. So some of that is going to be wrapped around this social good and all been good.

spk_0 So for us ourselves to be educated, then we look at how does the everyday citizen who has a library

spk_0 card in whatever form that is that can come to the library and get some basic knowledge and basic

spk_0 information to participate in city governments like a civics master class, for example,

spk_0 or AI master class when they're learning as a resident how to use tools to advance their

spk_0 civic causes or social causes. So we can imagine that happening in a workshop in a public library.

spk_0 So that's part of what we're trying to do again with an AI innovation hub in our library,

spk_0 but also digital twinning of the city. And then as you and I were just talking about

spk_0 how to nonprofit think about this. So how can AI to solve expedient routes for food delivery

spk_0 programs like meals on wheels or our food bank programs and the like. So the use cases which is

spk_0 really I think one of the gold cards that's still being developed is what are the use cases.

spk_0 So as learners and as adult learners it's even more of a challenge that we're learning the new

spk_0 technologies in trying to imagine now how do I use this to do my job. Well the use cases sometimes

spk_0 are flipped. So that's where the social good is also occurring in created active and relevant use

spk_0 cases to help people as we transition to this generative economy from the retrieval economy.

spk_0 Your thoughtfulness on the subject. Well not surprising giving your role in your background,

spk_0 it's really appreciated and it's really I think thinking through the micro and the macro at the

spk_0 same time. And as you said public university public benefit would are all the different ways that

spk_0 these tools and it's like any other technology except perhaps it's going much faster and more

spk_0 impactful than the ones before or many of the ones before anyway. But thinking about how these tools

spk_0 can permeate all these different parts of society as how you think about social good I think is

spk_0 is really just a great a great way to think about it. Well I'm just going to say that you

spk_0 reminded me that we have faculty that are using AI for social good problem solving and what really

spk_0 I've seen as well as some of the output of that is that students who may be multi-lingual or

spk_0 tri-lingual and may live in different areas of California or the region bring their own authentic

spk_0 experience to how they're thinking about social goods that may solve to your point micro population

spk_0 challenges for microcosms without giving up their authentic culture and this integration of

spk_0 solving social good problems. And I'm watching that in practice with our faculty who are in some

spk_0 cases are doing statewide looks at these problem solving using social tools. So I think it's

spk_0 important to remember that we're asking students as they're learning to learn to solve these

spk_0 challenges in their own home communities and that's really an accelerated benefit that we're

spk_0 receiving now with the tools. That's great. So you've talked about this throughout the conversation

spk_0 and I don't know how I could follow up you're saying you're working on a digital twin

spk_0 of campus by saying what else are you doing? But as we wrap up what else is on the horizon? Are there

spk_0 any new collaborations initiatives maybe even research directions that you can speak about that

spk_0 you know you're excited to share? So one of a couple things you know at San Jose State we've got an

spk_0 AI related sort of this curricular innovation going on. So you can expect to see our curriculum

spk_0 and the programs that we offer here continue to emerge in ways that are in some cases reactive

spk_0 and in other cases hopefully proactive with our tech partners in you know tools not yet developed.

spk_0 So I think this human-centered interaction with robots and and living and working in space

spk_0 are things that you're going to see coming from us you know over this rapid period of time and

spk_0 we're already embedded in some of those conversations and things happening in space which is just

spk_0 sort of mind bending right? Yeah right. Well it's exciting. The other is we're really wanting to

spk_0 ensure we provided incentives to all of our faculty to lean into their research especially if it

spk_0 is related to this new emerging industries and research opportunities and working with tech

spk_0 companies to understand what their research needs are where our faculty can be alongside them

spk_0 and I find that if we are more focused and granular on what we need that tech companies can respond

spk_0 to that more rapidly and responsibly when we know what that looks like and that's something we're

spk_0 messing together on. Yeah. And the omnivores is the best example I have that we want to do this

spk_0 and oh by the way then we need to teach all the teachers teach all the faculty members who will

spk_0 lead this and guide it and take it in a whole other way but you get everyone to baseline.

spk_0 So being an Nvidia when they can take those courses or go over into the laboratories there

spk_0 is a big opportunity for everyone. So I see one. The other thing that we don't know yet but I would

spk_0 imagine with the business incubation focus that our mayor has and you know earlier this week the

spk_0 mayor issued checks to the first I think it was five winners of the AI economy projects that are

spk_0 being incentivized here in the city. Oh is that right okay. Yeah the awards are made I want to

spk_0 say my dear two seems okay. Oh man. It's the first five and and according to the mayor no other

spk_0 city has done this yet. So I think you're going to see business incubation and business innovation

spk_0 and we're going to see it here coming from our students and what they're making in the proverbial

spk_0 garage which is different now. Right. Right. And in our business school for example Noah this semester

spk_0 so it's coming soon funded by plug and play our faculty in the business school created a program

spk_0 called the Spark Academy and Spark Academy is teaching AI entrepreneurship innovation to high

spk_0 scores. Fantastic. Yeah. And so all of this is being seeded to mature in this next generation

spk_0 in response to your question about what's next. There's a lot. There's a lot. Fantastic. For listeners

spk_0 who want to learn even more maybe you want to plan a visit to campus if they're local think about

spk_0 applying is the website the best place to go. Yes come to sksu.edu anybody who wants to talk can

spk_0 always DM me on social media and we do respond. I do respond. So it's exciting and we're happy to

spk_0 talk further about this as we all develop curriculum for the new tomorrow. Great. Well Cynthia

spk_0 Dr. Tinney Ante Mattson again thank you for taking the time to come on the podcast and more

spk_0 importantly congratulations and continued success with all the work you're doing. It is an

spk_0 exciting time to be alive and as a parent with a child rapidly approaching the end of high school

spk_0 I'm excited for their future if they go on to college by this conversation it's it's really

spk_0 heartening to hear about the ways that as an educator but in as we've talked about this really

spk_0 unique situation geographical and and sort of proximity to just this history of technology innovation

spk_0 it's really great to hear about all the thoughtful and practical ways that you're approaching

spk_0 these partnerships and the new technology and just how to work with and serve your students so

spk_0 best of luck and continue success. Thank you take care now I'd look forward to talking to you again soon.

spk_0 You too.

spk_0 So

AI Everywhere: How San José State University Empowers Students and Educators - Ep. 275

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