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Artificial intelligence at UC, the modern-day flame of Prometheus

Gary Lloyd | Nov 06,26 | 01:46 EST

Technology

According to ancient Greek myth, humans first encountered fire when the titan Prometheus snuck into the workshop of Hephaestus, god of blacksmiths, and stole a spark of divine flame in a hollowed-out fennel stalk. This spark was a gift to the mortals punished by Zeus to suffer cold, hungry and weak lives as a result of Prometheus’s trickery.

Digital Technology Solutions Digital Technology Solutions (DTS) is UC’s central IT service provider, developing new technologies for students and faculty. They launched BearcatGPT, a private and secure generative AI platform for current students, staff, and faculty, piloted in December 2025 and made available in spring 2026. This multi-LLM (large language model) environment operates within UC’s network, ensuring data privacy and not educating external models with UC information. BearcatGPT aims to be both safe and empowering, showing significant uptake in STEM classes like math, statistics, chemistry, and physics, as well as in other diverse fields like CCM. Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning The Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CET&L) assists instructors in integrating AI into their curriculum. Assistant Director Daniel Dale notes that CET&L typically addresses two main approaches: resistance to AI or its integration. For resistance, they help faculty design assignments that discourage AI use, identifying 'low hanging fruit' like short quizzes and reading summaries, while still meeting learning outcomes through critical thinking. For integration, the focus is on tailoring AI use to specific disciplines, creating learning experiences that simulate real-world applications of AI, thus preparing students for their future careers. Electrical and Computer Engineering UC’s Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department is actively promoting AI education and application. Medhi Norouzi teaches graduate courses in Applied Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and Applied Generative AI. Department Head Marc Cahay encourages research students to use AI for literature gathering, emphasizing the need for students to verify sources. ECE is also funded by the Ohio Cyber Range Institute to research AI and cybersecurity, aiming to secure open-source AI platforms. Furthermore, AI is utilized to enhance ADA compliance in classes, converting handwritten notes into accessible audio or PowerPoint presentations, which has particularly aided Professor Cahay in overcoming language barriers due to his accent. Information systems Academic Director Kris Jones, teaching information systems at Lindner, highlights AI's dual nature: its potential for both good and harm, depending on its use. He focuses on motivating students to leverage AI responsibly for authentic learning, rather than just knowledge harvesting. Jones integrates AI into his curriculum to design engaging, personalized activities, such as creating business intelligence scenarios relevant to students' career goals. He believes that students often resort to AI out of a lack of motivation or perceived irrelevance of classwork. Therefore, instead of traditional assignments, he designs tasks where AI acts as a 'copilot,' promoting hands-on, applied learning tailored to the class content.

Digital Technology Solutions

Digital Technology Solutions (DTS) is UC’s central IT service provider, developing new technologies for students and faculty. They launched BearcatGPT, a private and secure generative AI platform for current students, staff, and faculty, piloted in December 2025 and made available in spring 2026. This multi-LLM (large language model) environment operates within UC’s network, ensuring data privacy and not educating external models with UC information. BearcatGPT aims to be both safe and empowering, showing significant uptake in STEM classes like math, statistics, chemistry, and physics, as well as in other diverse fields like CCM.

Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning

The Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CET&L) assists instructors in integrating AI into their curriculum. Assistant Director Daniel Dale notes that CET&L typically addresses two main approaches: resistance to AI or its integration. For resistance, they help faculty design assignments that discourage AI use, identifying 'low hanging fruit' like short quizzes and reading summaries, while still meeting learning outcomes through critical thinking. For integration, the focus is on tailoring AI use to specific disciplines, creating learning experiences that simulate real-world applications of AI, thus preparing students for their future careers.

Electrical and Computer Engineering

UC’s Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department is actively promoting AI education and application. Medhi Norouzi teaches graduate courses in Applied Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and Applied Generative AI. Department Head Marc Cahay encourages research students to use AI for literature gathering, emphasizing the need for students to verify sources. ECE is also funded by the Ohio Cyber Range Institute to research AI and cybersecurity, aiming to secure open-source AI platforms. Furthermore, AI is utilized to enhance ADA compliance in classes, converting handwritten notes into accessible audio or PowerPoint presentations, which has particularly aided Professor Cahay in overcoming language barriers due to his accent.

Information systems

Academic Director Kris Jones, teaching information systems at Lindner, highlights AI's dual nature: its potential for both good and harm, depending on its use. He focuses on motivating students to leverage AI responsibly for authentic learning, rather than just knowledge harvesting. Jones integrates AI into his curriculum to design engaging, personalized activities, such as creating business intelligence scenarios relevant to students' career goals. He believes that students often resort to AI out of a lack of motivation or perceived irrelevance of classwork. Therefore, instead of traditional assignments, he designs tasks where AI acts as a 'copilot,' promoting hands-on, applied learning tailored to the class content.