The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially Generative AI (GAI), could have both advantages and disadvantages for the education sector. In a positive sense, GAI allows faster more comprehensive searching for information and may facilitate the development of models and concepts at a higher tempo. In a negative sense, however, AI generated content, which might pass as the work of a human, could be submitted by unscrupulous individuals as their own work. This threat to original insight and thought is a challenge to the integrity of educational qualifications. Beyond content generation, however, GAI could pose more existential questions for the andragogical process and provision of education. In the field of Systems Engineering (SE) education has, to date, focused on the application of concepts, principles, modelling techniques and related ideas to finding the best possible solution to problem situations in engineering and business. The advent of GAI could have the effect of changing this paradigm; does such technology confer SE ability on those with the ability only to construct the cleverest ‘prompts’? Can GAI under the right circumstances be used to determine the most appropriate models and approach to solution development and, if so, will higher-order functions be lifted from the human ‘operator’? If so, where does the human add value in the subject? In the light of these questions, will GAI fundamentally affect how SE should be taught? This paper assesses these questions and proposes andragogical ideas for the constructive use of GAI techniques in SE education.

Authors:
Kieran Holling, Cranfield University, United Kingdom
Steve Barker, Cranfield University, United Kingdom

About the Presenter(s)
Mr Kieran Holling is currently a lecturer in Capability Integration and Acquisition at Cranfield University, with a particular interest in Enterprise Systems Engineering.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieranholling

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