Over the past year, the growth of platforms such as Open AI has marked the rise in the applications of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.  Users have applied these platforms to a wide range of topics requiring large-scale data analysis, from financial modeling to automating artificial art.  Accordingly, questions have arisen about the integration and application of these technologies in everyday life.  One of these critical applications is in the classroom.  With the development of a new type of automated thinking, some educators worry about the potential for augmented student dependence on AI and other ways the technology will affect classroom settings, according to gse.harvard.edu.  Ms. Cristina Dolan ’79, computer science entrepreneur, executive, and engineer, visited Sacred Heart Greenwich Upper School students February 6 to deliver an exploration of computerized thinking and how it integrates into a more automated and innovative classroom and world.

Ms. Dolan is not new to the tech space.  She facilitated the international exchanges of software and digital technologies as part of several conglomerates.  In her previous role, Ms. Dolan worked in the intersection between blockchain technology and insurance as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of InsureX, which she founded, according to cfany.org.  Currently, serves on the board of three companies, including WiseKey and SealSQ, cybersecurity companies, and GRIIT, an international think tank and consulting firm.

Despite focusing her past work on the insurance and cybersecurity sectors, Ms. Dolan retains familiarity with the applications of her field in a more educational environment.  Computer-based problem-solving fascinates her, and she loves exploring the historical and future intersection between technology and the real world.  She commented on the evolution of learning-based innovations and how AI will become the educational tool of the future. 

“Your ability to learn […] because of the way these tools will interact with you improves because you can keep asking the generative AI questions,” Ms. Dolan said. “I think the way that the system will bring back information when it doesn’t make sense to you is incredibly valuable.  I think that that’s the reason why Khan Academy, Duolingo, and other tutorial-type education platforms are shifting more towards AI integration in the future.  The other thing is everything is changing so quickly.  I would imagine that […] being able to ask for the most up-to-date research on a particular topic, summarize it, and guide you […] will play a bigger role in the learning process.”

Ms. Dolan is not alone in her findings.  At the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Professor Houman Harouni noted how incorporating AI tools into a graduate student project that explores complex educational problems provided more fully-fledged solutions than technology or pupils alone, according to gse.harvard.edu.  Ms. Dolan commented on using AI to supplement human knowledge and skill sets.

“I think of the capacities of AI and generative AI as an agent on your behalf,” Ms. Dolan said. “Let’s say I wanted to learn as much as possible about something concrete but very expansive.  I can ask the agent to come back with something very concrete, such as an outline.  […] You’re having a dialogue to determine what it is that you want, and this technology brings back a framework that you can dig down into.  […]  You have to lead the agent. It’s almost like having an electronic assistant.  If you don’t ask the questions correctly, you won’t get the right responses.”

Although educational applications of AI fascinate her, Ms. Dolan focuses her work on a wide variety of computer science applications, from security to satellites.  Ms. Dolan detailed her fascination with cybersecurity as part of her role on the boards of both WiseKey and SealSQ.  She noted how understanding cybersecurity is critical to minimizing the detrimental effects of growing AI technologies.

“Cybersecurity is based on protecting data,” Ms. Dolan said. “We’re living in a world in which, according to the [Federal Reserve Bank of the United States], 93 percent of businesses are driven by data.  Data is growing at these exponential rates.  90 percent of the data is going to be unstructured and needs to use AI, so while everybody is talking about artificial intelligence from what it can do, you’re still now in companies asking to pull a lot of information from many different places to create new content.  This might be confidential data that you cannot share with anybody, so cybersecurity is a key part of artificial intelligence.  […]  A cyber attack could take down a company faster than carbon or any other risks.” 

As a prolific and experienced female entrepreneur, Ms. Dolan offered advice to young women who are navigating the technological landscape.  She discussed the necessity of computer science skills in an increasingly innovative and tech-based professional world.

“In the same way that you learn how to read and write as part of your education, I would say that understanding how technology works should be a part of anybody’s education in order to function in the world,” Ms. Dolan said. “I think Sacred Heart does a really good job of giving you well-rounded critical thinking skills because I think that most people are going to go into the world to solve interesting problems, and they’re going to have a palette of different skills and technologies to bring to solve those problems.  By understanding how the technology works, you may not want to work in technology […], but you’re still going to have to bring this palette of technology with you in order to innovate.”

Featured Image by Lindsay Taylor ’24