How do we prepare professionals for a future where AI is part of everyday work?
Featured faculty
A University of Denver College of Professional Studies feature on my approach to teaching AI to working professionals, where students turn inward before they turn to the tools.
For Susan Adams, Adjunct Associate Professor in the College of Professional Studies at the University of Denver, the answer goes beyond learning new AI tools. It is learning to think critically, ethically, and intentionally about how we use them.
This summer, Susan has been leading conversations about responsible AI across the DU community and beyond. In addition to teaching BACP 3450: AI and Professional Practice, she recently co-facilitated the AI with Integrity workshop with the University of Denver Daniels College of Business and the DU Center for Ethical Artificial Intelligence, and is helping launch the AI in Education Community of Practice at DU. Her work also extends nationally through Achieving the Dream and as founder of Women in AI Colorado.
In Susan’s classroom, AI is the context for the work. She challenges working professionals from industries including healthcare, banking, telecommunications, logistics, and real estate to explore questions of professional judgment, ethics, and creative agency. Training on a particular tool is beside the point.
As Susan describes her approach:
“Before my students apply AI to anything, they turn inward. Because the goal isn’t fluency with the tools, it’s staying the author of your own thinking as you use them.”
It’s an approach that reflects the College of Professional Studies’ commitment to preparing learners for today’s workplace and for the evolving challenges of tomorrow.
We’re proud to have educators like Susan helping shape the future of AI education at DU.