Generative AI is a topic that keeps us all busy – at work, in our spare time and in the news. We were curious to find out how AI is currently being used in the work field. Specifically in the field our students will be entering, of course.
Background
As an educational institution, we aim to prepare our students for the professional field and equip them with the knowledge and skills they will need. We would naturally like to know about any knowledge and skills relating to generative AI that have become indispensable. That is why we organised two thematic professional field sessions: on 9 February and 4 June. During these two professional field sessions, we spoke to both alumni and non-alumni working for various employers, specifically the pharmaceutical industry, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the National Health Care Institute, a health care organisation, a consultancy firm and a health insurer.
Topics
The professional field sessions, which lasted 90 minutes each, consisted of a free-flowing discussion based on the questions below:
- What role does AI currently play within the organisation, what role will it play in the future and how do people use it?
- Why are AI knowledge and skills important for new employees?
- Why is it important for new employees to understand the legal and ethical aspects of AI?
- Why are non-AI-related academic skills important?
- Are there any AI training opportunities within the organisation?
It became clear that there are significant differences between sectors in terms of whether generative AI is used extensively or, on the contrary, is avoided as much as possible. It also emerged that knowledge of generative AI, or the ability to work with it effectively, is not yet a must for applicants. However, many organisations are giving thought to the safe and ethical use of AI. The ability to write without AI is seen as less important; what matters most is being able to reason coherently about what you have written and reaching the right conclusions. In some sectors, generative AI is also genuinely seen as an opportunity to speed up processes and make them more efficient.
Many thanks to everyone who attended!
Follow-up
Following two successful professional field sessions, we are keen for more! At ESHPM, we would like to set up an advisory committee of alumni working in the field, which will meet twice a year to discuss relevant topics (not just AI) with us.
If this sounds like something you would enjoy, let us know at alumni@eshpm.eur.nl.
