Perspectives from University Graduates facing A.I and Automation in Ireland: How do Irish Higher Education’s graduates from Maynooth University perceive AI is going to impact them?

Higher Education graduates in Ireland are being poured every year into the workforce with increasing uncertainty due to technological breakthroughs in AI and Automation technologies. The speed of which is hard to keep up for higher education institutions due to the sheer amount of outdated and unengaging practices inside universities not translating into applicable skills in the workplaces. Qualitative semi-structured interviews are used to delve into the perspectives and attitudes of graduates from Maynooth University, a mid-size Irish university. The observed graduate perceptions range from lack of employable skills and practical knowledge plus a widespread culture of instrumental credentialism and lack of assertiveness in cases where the quality of the education is perceived as bad; to positive perspectives surrounding Universities lifestyle and flexible AI-powered ways of learning. Through Interpretative exploratory techniques, this thesis contributes to the discussion of a more sustainable Artificial Intelligence and education system, based on the pursue of new literacies updated to the XXI century

Adolescence, autism and technology: how technology can impact the social lives and wellbeing of adolescents with an autism diagnosis

Section A Section A is a narrative review of social skills interventions that have been used to enhance the social skills of adolescents with a diagnosis of autism. The review examined the types of interventions used as well as their efficacy, acceptability and generalisability. Exploration of the research revealed some limited evidence supporting the use of technology-delivered social skills interventions. Interventions offered little benefit over in-person interventions and limited generalisability. However, such interventions were positively received by young people which may improve intervention adherence. Clinical and research implications are provided. Section B Section B is a mixed-methods study examining the social media experiences of 222 adolescents with and without autistic traits. Participants’ views on the advantages and disadvantages of using social media and its impact on their social life were collected. A number of hypotheses concerning social media’s impact on social capital and wellbeing were tested, including the moderating role of autistic traits. Results show that social media use can have a positive impact on adolescents’ social lives and improve online social capital. Its impact on wellbeing appeared to vary depending on autistic traits. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for clinical practice. Limitations are considered and implications for future research are provided

Peer coaching: To what extent can it support the development of professional attributes required to be a teacher?

Students on a science PGCE course were introduced to peer coaching. This article describes the structures developed to enhance student teachers’ professional attributes and then reports the results. The students were given questionnaires to ascertain to what extent they felt they had developed their professional attributes as a result of being involved in peer coaching. The questionnaire design provided both qualitative and quantitative data. The evidence indicates that the peer coaching procedures had a positive impact on student teachers’ professional development. Data was analysed and has been used to draw conclusions to inform peer coaching in an education setting

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

Developmental Bootstrapping of AIs

Although some current AIs surpass human abilities in closed artificial worlds such as board games, their abilities in the real world are limited. They make strange mistakes and do not notice them. They cannot be instructed easily, fail to use common sense, and lack curiosity. They do not make good collaborators. Mainstream approaches for creating AIs are the traditional manually-constructed symbolic AI approach and generative and deep learning AI approaches including large language models (LLMs). These systems are not well suited for creating robust and trustworthy AIs. Although it is outside of the mainstream, the developmental bootstrapping approach has more potential. In developmental bootstrapping, AIs develop competences like human children do. They start with innate competences. They interact with the environment and learn from their interactions. They incrementally extend their innate competences with self-developed competences. They interact and learn from people and establish perceptual, cognitive, and common grounding. They acquire the competences they need through bootstrapping. However, developmental robotics has not yet produced AIs with robust adult-level competences. Projects have typically stopped at the Toddler Barrier corresponding to human infant development at about two years of age, before their speech is fluent. They also do not bridge the Reading Barrier, to skillfully and skeptically draw on the socially developed information resources that power current LLMs. The next competences in human cognitive development involve intrinsic motivation, imitation learning, imagination, coordination, and communication. This position paper lays out the logic, prospects, gaps, and challenges for extending the practice of developmental bootstrapping to acquire further competences and create robust, resilient, and human-compatible AIs.Comment: 102 pages, 29 figure

Toward Super-Creativity

What is super creativity? From the simple creation of a meal to the most sophisticated artificial intelligence system, the human brain is capable of responding to the most diverse challenges and problems in increasingly creative and innovative ways. This book is an attempt to define super creativity by examining creativity in humans, machines, and human-machine interactions. Organized into three sections, the volume covers such topics as increasing personal creativity, the impact of artificial intelligence and digital devices, and the interaction of humans and machines in fields such as healthcare and economics